AT every general election there are, for all to consider, three very important elements of our democracy – the political parties contesting the election, the leader of those political parties who could become the prime minister, and the manifesto which each political party is presenting to the public.

In the three years following the referendum on our membership of the EU, each of those elements has been cast aside by individuals who were elected as members of parliament in the 2017 general election.

In 2017 the manifesto of both the Conservative and Labour parties contained a pledge to honour the result of the 2016 referendum.

The majority “remainers” within the House of Commons have, however, chosen to ignore the pledge given in 2017, showing that a manifesto is not worth the paper it is written on.

Conservative members of parliament, the majority of whom favour Brexit, have now taken the first step to remove the Prime Minister who was elected at the 2017 election.

Finally, those same Conservative members of parliament will choose which two of their fellow MPs should be presented to the full membership of the Conservative Party, who will appoint which one will become leader of their party and subsequently our Prime Minister.

Clearly what the electorate decide at a general election is not binding on those who are elected, and they can at any time get rid of the prime minister and have one of their numbers appointed to the said position. We have, I fear, a very flawed democracy.

Brian Gibson, Ferryhill