I READ with interest the letter from M Chesterman (EA, July 12) advocating the election of independent candidates.

While this may seem like an attractive idea in principle, the system of government we have in Swindon would not enable 10 or even 20 independent councillors to make the difference which M Chesterman would like to see. The council is run by a cabinet (in much the same way as at Westminster) and this is where most of the major policy decisions are taken.

Only 10 of the 59 borough councillors have a seat in the cabinet and eight of those are from the largest party Labour who have been the largest party in Swindon for 23 years.

Consequently, independent councillors would have very limited influence on the decision-making process since they would not be part of the largest group. The only practical way to bring about change in Swindon is for the voters to ensure that Labour is not the largest party after the next election.

CLLR DAVID RENARD

Borage Close

Haydon Wick

Swindon