Voting system is inherently wrong

It has been established that the result of the General Election in Canterbury and Whitstable was affected by the votes of many thousands of students.

Even the second-placed candidate, Anna Firth, got more votes than the total number cast for all candidates in many constituencies.

The students who voted are, for the most part, short-term residents as well as only in the constituency part-time.

There is something inherently wrong and completely undemocratic in a system where people whose part-time and temporary stay is shorter than the length of a single parliament can impose a representative who is not the preferred choice of the majority of the full-time permanent population.

In many countries it is only permissible to vote in national elections in the constituency of one’s permanent home. The system must be changed urgently.

It was also disconcerting to note at one of the hustings that Rosie Duffield said proportional representation needs to be put in place. Has she forgotten that it was little over five-and-a-half years since a referendum on that very subject returned a massive majority of more than 2:1 in favour of keeping the first past the post system? Frank Dowling

Kite Farm, Whitstable n I yearn for a time to come when students should not be allowed to influence the political colour of our local government.

The large majority of these temporary visitors reside in Canterbury for short periods only to then disappear - probably forever. Why should they be encouraged to vote a particular political colour, merely because they have been targeted and advised to do so? They are young and vulnerable to the opinions of those who have a measure of control over their futures. The newly-elected MP, Rosie Duffield, acknowledged the debt she has owed to student votes in two elections.

We who live here permanently pay a considerable sum to the council to accommodate a very large number of, often very ungrateful, selfimportant students, who contribute little, if anything to our full-time existence in this, one-time lovely city.

Barry Whiting

Conyngham Lane, Bridge