The general election last week saw Dr Sarah Wollaston, for the Conservatives, returned with 54 per cent of the vote in the Totnes constituency.

It may also have seen the death, here, of Ukip, which polled two per cent, meaning it lost its £500 deposit. The other party that lost its deposit was the Greens. It polled four per cent, down from 10 per cent in 2015.

There was talk before the election of an anti-Tory ­progressive alliance. In this arrangement, the supporters of the left-of-centre’ parties – ie Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens – would vote tactically for the party best able to beat the Tories.

It looks as though this may have happened to some extent, as Labour increased its share from 13 per cent in 2015 to 27 per cent in 2017. This did not affect the Lib Dems much, who increased their share from 10 per cent to 13 per cent.

However, it does look as if this affected the Green vote. It appears that voting against

the Conservatives is more ­important for Green supporters than voting for their Green ­principles. Humiliating their Green candidate and costing their party money, by way of the lost deposit, seems to put the politics of hate ahead of a belief in their party’s policies.

Perhaps the people who ‘lent’ their support to Labour should go the whole way and join Jeremy Corbyn’s bandwagon to national bankruptcy.

John Crozier

Redoubt Hill

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