WELL if not 'paradise' then certainly an opportunity lost. In my Review letter of June, I urged everyone to vote and asked the question – do we want local democracy? From the result of the elections to answer is a resounding 'no!'

Rather than use this opportunity to change the balance of power and make our councillors more accountable and considerate, the disgruntled, apathetic voters decided to stay a home and watch telly.

It seems that Labour voters were the worst culprits. Disenchanted with the central government expenses debacle and financial situation many decided not to vote, while Conservative voters, who must not mind being ripped off by their MPs, turned out anyway and virtually swept the board.

This is quite bizzare as (1) our local councillors are somewhat distinct from our MPs, (2) the whole expenses issue, while resulting from leaked information, basically came about from the Freedom of Information Act and disclosure of expenses which was brought in by the Labour government and which the Conservatives were against; and (3) a Conservative government would not have controlled our financial institutions any better.

Anyway, a look at the voting figures makes for very unhappy reading. Take my area of Coleford. Only 2,280 people voted out of a voting population of around 8,000 – just 28 per cent. Of these, only 32 per cent voted for Terry Hale, elected with a majority of only 87. This means of course that 68 per cent of the voters did not want Councillor Hale. Or, to put it another way, he won his seat with only 9 per cent of the electorate. Lydney's figures were equally as bad, while winners in other areas generally managed more than 40 per cent of the vote. In only one area, Mid Dean, could the winner claim an outright majority with more than 50 per cent of the votes.

This is a sad indictment of our so called democratic society that we allow ourselves to be ruled over by a minority. While I feel proportional representation would undoubtedly produce a more equitable situation, someone points out that the only way to get people to vote is to make it compulsory. But that should not be the way of a free society. I feel extremely sad that rather than take a 15 minutes walk to the polling station every four years we use our freedom to just sit in front of the telly and moan. – Walt Williams, Coleford.