Sir, Derek Senior writes (letter, June 9) that an unelected prime minister is “quite the norm” in British politics. However, when Tony Blair became Prime Minister, it was understood by all that Gordon Brown would eventually be his successor. Mr Brown spent years in the wings waiting to take over, and in due course, as expected, did so unopposed. He is not just another example of an unelected prime minister, but is the first “hereditary” prime minister.
Rosemary Fong
Hull
Sir, I’m sorry that Derek Senior spent so much time calculating how many 20th-century prime ministers have been unelected. The correct answer, of course, is all of them. It is a peculiarity of our constitution that our political leader is simply a constituency MP.
The Rev Adrian Reynolds
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Yateley, Hants