MY old sparring partner Billy Neilson knows almost as much about elections as I do, but his “Tory plot” theory (HAS, Feb 16) does not hold water.

The leaked list of seats where the Tories admit they will not be concentrating, ie the hopeless causes and the supposed “safe” seats like Richmond, is a genuine embarrassment, not a plot to help Ukip as Billy surmises.

Why this former Labour stalwart, who stood as an independent two years ago, still argues for Labour, is a mystery. But he is right to admit that Labour now has only minority support in many of its former North-East strongholds.

Thanks to first past the post, with 40 per cent of the North-East vote, Labour could still win 85 per cent of the seats in the region and Ukip none.

Nigel Farage claims Ukip could come second in every seat here, but that would still mean no MPs for the party he leads.

Chris Foote-Wood, Parliamentary LibDem candidate for Richmond