The mandate for the Prime Minister – letter from Edward Vale

Sirs,

Neil Goodwin (letters 5th September) suggests that democracy is ill served by Conservative Party members alone having a vote to elect Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

The point I think he misses is that we voters elect only political parties at General Elections, indeed we actually only vote for individuals – who have been known in the past to change their party allegiance later. The Tories’ candidates won over 4 million more votes than any other party. Our system is not a Presidential one; parties can change leaders according to their rules as they wish. I recall Gordon Brown became Prime Minister after Tony Blair – without a vote even of his party’s members, as in effect did Mrs May.

There are ways to object the a party’s leader including Parliament initiating a vote of confidence in order to force a General Election, but currently the Conservative Party has too large a majority for that to be viable.

It is a flawed system to a limited extent, but voters seem reluctant to embrace a change to a Presidential system. If voters don’t like the Conservative Party at the next General Election, they know what to do.

Yours,

Edward Vale
Pewsey