I WAS surprised to see my Labour candidate’s assertion that he supported the Labour Party but not its leader (Echo, May 22).

Given that the General Election is now only a couple of weeks away, the most important message I would have expected Phil Wilson to be articulating would be detailing the importance and value of the contents of the Labour Party manifesto to the constituents of Sedgefield as well as the vast majority of people in the United Kingdom.

Within the Parliamentary Labour Party, I am sure that the feelings of both Mr Wilson and Jeremy Corbyn are mutually well understood, but they are of little concern to the general public.

What is of concern to the public is such matters as the future of the NHS and who is more likely to foster its welfare. The pursuance of a taxation system that is fair, not just in theory, but in the practice of how it is managed. The financing of public services so that those in need and the weakest in our society are best provided for. As the franchises run out, the return of the national rail system to public ownership and management so that its operation is there for the benefit of the public and not in the interests of private profit.

Every aspect of the Labour Party manifesto is of concern to the general public in that it offers an alternative management of the economy which will provide for a fairer society.

Peter Hanafin, Middleton St George

THE best thing Sedgefield Labour candidate Phil Wilson could do for the Labour Party is to resign and put up as an independent. How can you support a party and not support its leader beats me.

Terry Tucker, St Helen Auckland

WE vote for our local MP, not the next Prime Minister, so is it ok to vote for Phil Wilson even though he does not support Jeremy Corbyn?

But when voting for a good local MP, we always take into account the policies of the parties and which party leader might make the best leader of the country.

A vote purely for the best local candidate would result in MPs from lots of small parties, or independents, and this does not happen. You are bound to be best represented by an MP from the party in power.

I know that Phil Wilson has been an excellent, hard working MP, but that is not enough when it comes to putting that cross in the box and in effect voting for the leadership of Corbyn, McDonnell, Abbott and company. I cannot recall a weaker team since the days of Michael Foot.

G Carr, Aycliffe Village

I WAS disappointed to read of Phil Wilson ditching any allegiance to the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (Echo, May 22).

It’s not that he has chosen to do this – I agree that Mr Corbyn is unelectable. The issue I have is the timing. This comes a day after newspaper reports that his Sedgefield seat is threatened. If Phil had these thoughts about Corbyn, the hijacking of the party by extremists and the unrealistic programme, he should have been shouting this loud for the past two years, not now just before an election.

We have someone at odds with most of his constituency over Brexit, has ditched his party and presumably manifesto so just what would we be voting for by giving Phil our vote?

Apart from being local, I can’t tell what it is he stands for.

Peter Elliott, Eaglescliffe

SO Sedgefield’s Phil Wilson doesn’t like the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn (Echo, May 22).

Well coming from a staunch Blairite that is no surprise. These Blairites despise those on the Labour left more than they do the Conservatives. Mr Wilson’s views would have been better suited to someone standing as an independent candidate.

He represents everything that is wrong with the Labour Party, a party that since the early 1990s has forgotten what it stands for.

Thankfully, Jeremy Corbyn is attempting to take it back to its roots.

Ronnie Chambers, Blackhall Colliery, Hartlepool