I WOULD like to respond to Paul Pennington’s letter about the council’s decision to replace regular elections with votes every four years.


At the last local elections the Labour Party received 37 per cent of the vote but 10 seats on the council, whereas 63 per cent of the votes for other parties only received two council seats.


How is that democracy in action?


As for cost, there is plenty of scope for reducing members’ allowances to pay for regular elections, such allowances arising from Harold Wilson’s Local Government Act (1974) .


The purpose of which was to create jobs for deadwood MPs by creating the equally unrepresentative and costly Merseyside County Council.


I make no comment on the adequacy or otherwise of the organisational structure of voting. 


As a student of politics since the late 1950s I gladly acknowledge his right to hold a different opinion but he is in error if he believes any non-politically aligned person like myself cannot recognise party political interests.


I have no agenda, party political or otherwise, my function merely being one of informing the public without using such patronising terms as “the good people of St Helens”.


I have no doubt they have common sense.


What they don’t have is time for politics or politicians.


Dr Phil Thomas, Clock Face