JOHN RISELEY’S hugely expensive idea of annual elections for MPs (HAS, Oct 11) would attract fewer and fewer voters. Drawing lots for each year’s challenger from the losing candidates would be a farce.

I agree that FPTP (first past the post) voting results in MPs and governments being elected on a minority vote.

There is a very simple way of ensuring that every MP is elected by a majority first time: place your candidates in 1,2,3 order.

If no-one gets a majority at the first count, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated and his/her votes are transferred to the other candidates. The process is repeated until one passes 50 per cent. This is known as STV (single transferable vote).

The beauty of STV is that it involves no additional cost whatsoever.

Even the ballot papers remain the same, with voters marking 1,2,3 etc instead of an ‘X’. Simple.

Chris Foote-Wood, Prospective Parliamentary LibDem candidate for Richmond