With local elections approaching on 7 May, readers have urged voters to think carefully before casting a protest vote. In letters to the editor, Viv Pert of London warned that these elections determine who runs essential local services such as social care, schools, housing, planning, waste collection and pest control. “Do you really think that parties such as Reform UK have the skills or mindset for this?” she asked, advising voters to save any protest for the next general election.
Another reader, Brian Smith from Berlin, predicted that the results would be worse for Labour than polls suggest. He noted that pollsters often underestimate the percentage of voters who are reluctant to admit they will vote for “the bad guys”, citing the Brexit vote as an example where such hidden support skewed predictions.
In lighter correspondence, Melanie White of Marazion, Cornwall, disagreed with John Crace’s idea of heaven – counting dogs on a walk – and described her own ideal as walking by the sea with clean air and no dogs allowed. Meanwhile, retired maths teacher Michael Heylings from Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, recalled his low-tech teaching methods, saying that supplementing white chalk with coloured chalk did not hinder students’ learning.
