REGARDING George Dunning’s letter about the Tees Valley Mayoral Election (HAS, April 17), I have no objection that the leaflet, dropping through all our doors to explain the process, was printed in Huddersfield.

After all, two of the Tees Valley boroughs, Redcar and Middlesbrough, are Yorkshire towns, just like Huddersfield. Even parts of Stockton, namely Yarm, Thornaby and Ingleby Barwick belong to God’s Own County.

There are, however, serious problems, not only with the said leaflet “The Election of a Tees Valley Mayor”, but with the electoral process itself.

In order absolutely to separate the administration of the election from political campaigning, no official document should contain political content. But, on this occasion, half the leaflet is dedicated to setting out the political manifestos of the competing candidates. We could be on a very slippery slope.

The mayoral election is to be decided by the supplementary vote system with electors being able to vote for a first and second choice. But, as with the first past the post system, used in Parliamentary elections, this method does not necessarily mean that the eventual winner will have secured 50 per cent of the first choice votes cast.

Although, to be fair, the perfect many-candidate voting system still remains to be invented.

Steve Kay, Redcar and Cleveland Councillor