I NOTE with interest recent correspondence on the subject of electoral reform (Letters, June 3 & 4).

I cannot remember realising at the time the nonsensical nature of the result of the 1951 General Election, but I can recall my first ever (SNP) vote at a school mock election in 1955.

Some of your older readers may remember that, in the election of that year, the Tories won more than 50 per cent of Scottish votes, the only party ever to do so.

By contrast, in 1951, both the Labour Government and the Tory opposition increased their votes. The Tories admittedly had four candidates elected unopposed. But the ludicrous thing was that the Labour vote was nearly three-quarters of a million greater than the Tories' total. So who won? Naturally, the Tories had a majority of 26 seats. That's British democracy for you.

Robin MacCormick,

82 Dalkeith Road,

Edinburgh.