IN MAY of last year, I voted for the first time.

Being a member of a political party since I was 15, I had waited a long time to finally make my opinion count for something. But when I went to the ballot box for the first time, I voted deliberately for a party I didn’t want to see in government.

Why? I’m slowly realising that the answer is the first-past-the-post voting system.

I knew voting for the candidate I wanted would make absolutely no difference in the constituency I was in; the well known “safe seat” problem that many other people face when they vote.

According to the Electoral Reform Society, 382 out of 650 Westminster seats were decided before the election, where a party had victory ensured regardless of their policies.

That means more than half of our MPs have jobs for life if they wish. This does not need to carry on.

Last year I voted against my views on purpose. But this year I will be voting ‘yes’ in the referendum for something I believe in.

Chris Navier, Starkey Crescent, Melrosegate, York.