We are still using an undemocratic and outdated voting system

I AM writing to express my frustration and anger at the continued failure of the Labour and Conservative leadership to support electoral reform in the UK.

It is outrageous that, in this day and age, we are still using an outdated and undemocratic first-past-the-post system that fails to accurately represent the diversity of our society.

The current system leads to millions of votes being wasted and allows parties to gain power with only a minority of the popular vote. This is not democratic, and it is time for a change. It is a disgrace that the Labour and Conservative parties continue to cling to this unfair system, despite the clear benefits of proportional representation.

As part of the ‘Sort The System’ Westminster lobby event on 24 May, I hope to meet with our MP for Salisbury, John Glen, to demand that they commit to supporting electoral reform and push for a fairer, more democratic system. It is time for the voices of all voters to be heard, not just those who happen to live in a cluster of marginal constituencies.

The Labour and Conservative leadership must wake up and recognise the need for proportional representation. Their failure to support reform is a clear indication that they are more interested in maintaining their own power than in truly representing the people they were elected to serve.

DARREN JAMES

Chair, Salisbury & District Trades Union Council; Salisbury Constituency

Labour Party – Trade Union Liaison Officer; Communication Workers Union (CWU) – South West Region Political Lead

Fact of the fortnight...

‘IF YOU throw those around, willy-nilly, you’ll never find anything…’

Parents everywhere will have uttered the phrase ‘willy nilly’ at one time or another, usually in relation to discarded toys or clothes, such as the Lego pictured.

But where does it come from?

Well, experts believe that ‘willynilly’ hails from a historic saying, ‘will I, nill I’ which means ‘I am willing, I am unwilling’.

Its original meaning was ‘whether one likes it or not’, but it has evolved over centuries to the ‘willy-nilly’ we currently know. Incarnations along the way include ‘nilly-willy’, ‘willing, nilling’ and ‘William nilliam’.

So the next time you find yourself telling someone off, turn it into a lesson in the evolution of language!

Parish poll politics

IT seems Westminster isn’t the only place where politics has gone crazy.

After all that fuss about the need for a parish poll, how the public needed to tell the City Council just what it thought of it’s council tax precept – only a scattering of people were angry enough to vote.

For a poll that was all about saving us residents money, it proved to be a huge waste of just that.

BEMUSED Salisbury

Coronation fun

I DON’T know about anyone else but I thoroughly enjoyed the coronation festivities that were on offer in the region

My husband and I watched the actual ceremony at home and felt proud of our nation and its history.

We tried to get out to some of the festivities on offer over the rest of the weekend, dipping in and out really and I was so pleasantly surprised by the good will that everyone was showing to each other.

I heard so many people say just how well ‘we’ do this sort of thing and that pomp and pageantry really set us apart from our cousins and neighbours.

For me, that rings true, but I was also struck by how well, as a nation, we welcome in other cultures and how they become part of what makes us such a strong and resilient place.

The concert on Sunday wasn’t our cup of tea, but again, what a spectacle and well done to everyone involved.

NAME AND ADDRESS

Corrections

An eagle-eyed reader phoned in this week to tell us that we named the river incorrectly on page 28 of the last edition. It should be the Nadder not the Avon.

Thank you, dear reader.

In the Antiques column last week, we revisited some old stories to highlight what priceless heirlooms could be hiding in plain sight, or in a box in the attic.

However, we’ve been advised that the column made a number of errors:

The teapot sold in Salisbury in 2018, not 2016.

The vendor did not think the teapot was Isleworth.

The potter’s name was John Bartlam, not John Bertram.

We must also note the correct spelling of Woolley and Wallis.