Tony Greaves’s suggestion (Letters, 23 April) that, to avoid splitting votes in the European elections, the three pro-remain parties should divide up the English regions between them will not work. Neither will Dick Bateman’s proposal that these parties should form a “stay coalition”. Change UK has already rebuffed overtures from the Lib Dems. The situation is a bit like the “tragedy of the commons”: individual parties are acting independently and contrary to the common good by depleting a resource (votes) that they could maximise via collective action. A mixture of self-interest and over-confidence may be to blame.
There is a possible solution. An organisation respected by pro-remain voters, such as the People’s Vote Campaign, or an individual who holds their confidence, such as Gina Miller, could divide up the English regions equally between the three parties (with or without their agreement). The allocation could be purely random or take account of which of the three parties is most likely to maximise the remain vote in different constituencies.
Pro-remain voters could then vote according to the party that has received the imprimatur of the allocating authority. The main problem would be in disseminating this information: a large “R” on the ballot paper next to the chosen candidate is probably out of the question. But traditional and social media could play a part.
Nigel Harvey
St Albans, Hertfordshire
• Now Change UK has discovered that it’s actually the party on the ballot paper that people vote for, not the individual (Rachel Johnson and Gavin Esler to stand for Change UK, 24 April), will we see all of the TIG MPs at Westminster resign their seats and stand as Change UK candidates at byelections? This will allow their constituents to decide whether they want to be represented by Change UK or another party. Or is this not what they meant?
Martin Freedman
London
• Change UK is struggling to differentiate itself from the pack – even to the extent of fielding a member of the Johnson family. While a strengthened Lib Dem presence at Westminster would be of no lasting value, it should be clear to those who wish to remain in the EU, especially the ultras of Change UK, that getting behind the only UK-wide party that is unashamedly pro-European could be in the national interest.
Embracing the party that sustained David Cameron’s government for five years is likely to be problematic for many electors, but not so for TIG’s founders. However, it would bring into question the strength of their commitment to real change rather than vanity and career opportunities.
Les Bright
Exeter, Devon
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