Right of Reply: Mike Gapes

A Labour MP responds to Ken Livingstone's case for proportional representation

KEN LIVINGSTONE'S eulogy for the German and New Zealand electoral systems and his praise of Roy Jenkins (9 September) are bizarre. I think he has allowed his hatred of the current Labour leadership to warp his sense of political reality.

Has Ken forgotten that when Europe's longest-serving leader, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and the Christian Democrats first came to power in 1982, it was not because of a general election victory. The German Liberals changed sides, and put him into power without an election by betraying their Social Democrat coalition partners. Their leader, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, kept his job as Foreign Minister.

Paddy Ashdown hopes that, with the help of Jenkins (another politician with personal experience of deserting former allies), he may succeed in his ambition to become the Hans-Dietrich Genscher of British politics. Ken Livingstone's proposal would help him do that!

Ken Livingstone also praises New Zealand, but that is a poor example. Their new system led to the break-up of the Labour Party.

I hope the Jenkins Commission sees the overriding importance of keeping the link between MP and constituency. There are only two ways to do that and also ensure that each MP elected secures a majority of preferences. One system is called the "Alternative Vote", the other the "Supplementary Vote". They keep the link between MPs and constituents and ensure extremists or opportunists cannot hold the balance of power.

I agree with Ken that a party list top-up is not acceptable, but nor is his best loser list. Both would act as a Trojan horse for Paddy Ashdown and threaten Labour's unity. Is that what Ken wants?