Dear Spurtle,
As has been noted here previously, both the City Centre ward and the Leith Walk ward were blessed with a smorgasbord of candidates for the recent local election.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Scotland, there were eight wards which were uncontested because not enough candidates had come forward.
Arguably, the plentitude of candidates and the complexities of the STV system did not go down equally well in the two Spurtleshire wards.
The Conservatives' Jo Mowat was 'first past the quota' and re-elected in the City Centre ward straightaway, no doubt because well-informed voters were aware of her track record as a hard-working, attentive and fair-minded local councillor.
But the SNP's Rob Munn, in the next-door Leith Walk ward, was eliminated at Stage 12. This, despite his own party's recommendation to give him the first preference vote and his well-earned reputation as a decent politician with attention to detail and good local knowledge.
Harald Tobermann
Pilrig Street