FOR 40 years my mother impressed upon me the duty to vote. Emily Wilding Davidson had died in the cause of women's suffrage.

My mother died last year at 93. I shall not vote on June 7. All the candidates for the Vale seats are men. Until the parties realise the significance of the fact that 51% of the UK population are women and take steps to ensure their representation in winnable seats I will not legitimate their power.

Britain has been a democracy for two centuries yet only one woman has ever held one of the major offices of state. As we enter the 21st Century it is time to make this the most important political issue.

CHRISTINE M HEWARD, Peacock House, The Green, Cleeve Prior.