Leadership contest in line with constitution

I CANNOT agree with Saros Kavina’s assertion that the selection of the next Prime Minister by only around 160,000 or so Conservative Party members is undemocratic. (“Tories make a sham out of our democracy”) July 27.

I entirely agree that the choice is not very inspiring (no doubt the more talented Tory MPs are keeping their powder dry until next time) but that doesn’t make the process undemocratic.

The UK does not have a presidential system whereby the electorate gets to elect an individual. Ours is a parliamentary system by which the Queen invites the leader of the party with the best chance of forming a Government to do so.

Once the results of a General Election are known, except in the case of a hung parliament, this is invariably the leader of the party which commands a majority of seats in the house of Commons.

As individuals we may cast our vote for the candidate in our constituency who happens to belong to the party whose leader we like the most, rather than for the party with the policies and ethos that closest matches our inclinations, but whether we like it or not, we are voting for a party, not a party leader.

It may certainly feel undemocratic for a small percentage of the electorate to choose the next Prime Minister, but the process is in accordance with the British constitution so unless we wish to claim that our constitution itself is undemocratic, then we need to accept this process.

The next PM will not have a mandate to change the commitments made in the Conservative manifesto prior to the last General Election.

He or she can and must be held to that by Parliament and the public at large.

Steve Rogers, Shipley