SIR - Most of what you said in your editorial leader column of August 6, regarding open public access to council meetings, was perfectly sensible. However, the opening paragraph of your piece was significantly wide of the mark. You stated that the role of councillors ‘is to represent the views of those who voted for them which, by definition, should be the majority view.’ Although I speak as someone involved in politics from the Conservative viewpoint, I think it would be fair to say that most, if not all, councillors, of whatever political hue, seek to represent the views of all their constituents, not just the views of ‘those who voted for them’.

Furthermore, the views of those who voted for them are simply not ‘by definition’ necessarily the ‘majority view’. Except in those few wards where votes might as well be weighed rather than counted, multi-party politics tends to result in winners being elected with significantly less than 50.01 per cent of the votes cast.

Mike Pollard, Moorfield Drive, Baildon