Christine has made the common mistake of comparing the 2008 election result in Todmor-den with 2007, instead of the last time this seat was fought in 2004, which is the proper comparison and the one used by the leaflet she refers to.

So, by the proper comparison, the Todmorden Labour vote was down by 174 (17 per cent) from 2004 and, as was rightly stated in the leaflet, this represents a swing from Labour to the Con-servatives of 2.2 per cent for the third-placed Labour candidate.

In contrast in Calder ward Janet Oosthuysen did achieve the only swing in Calderdale from the Greens and Lib Dems to Labour, a massive 10 per cent from the Greens and a very healthy 2.5 per cent swing from the Lib Dems, which very nearly unseated the popular but ineffectual leader of the Lib Dems on Calderdale Council.

That's why I'll be voting for Janet to be Labour's prospective Parliamentary candidate for Calder Valley as she has proved she can get vital swing votes in what is a tough year for Labour nationally.

I hope this helps clear things up for your correspondent as I'd hate any Labour Party member voting for the Calder Valley PPC to be basing their vote on inaccurate information.

Paul Clarke