Letter: Real choice
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Your support makes all the difference.IN HIS article on the probable London mayoral election, "Turn again, Red Ken" (29 March),Stephen Castle states that "Candidates in both parties are likely to undergo American-style primaries - ballots of party members". This is an inaccurate description of the American primary election system.
When you register to vote in the US you have the opportunity to register a political preference for primary election purposes. Whether or not you are a member of the political party you register a preference for is of no relevance. You are exercising your right, as a member of the American electorate, to participate in the selection of the candidates who contend elections.
This is a right that is denied to members of the British electorate where candidate selection (the real election in most constituencies) is restricted to political insiders. The primary system allows, say, a Republican supporter in a safe Democratic seat to register as a Democrat and to participate in the selection of the Democratic candidate who will inevitably be elected. In this way all electors can try to select a candidate with whom they agree on some issues. If candidates for London mayoral elections really were to be selected by US-style primaries then London politics would become truly interesting.
Garth Eaglesfield
London W2
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