SO SOME of us think Hugh Bayley MP is past his sell-by date.

We should be grateful that we have a man of experience representing our interests; we should also be grateful that we are blessed with a new MP who is helpful and writes common sense with sincerity in the new constituency.

Whosoever wished Hugh to go is not sincere and just dislikes the man’s politics; we should put prejudice aside.

Dennis Barton, Woodthorpe, York.

• AFTER considering a response to recent letters about Hugh Bayley, I have concluded that we should simply be thanking Hugh for his excellent work as a constituency MP.

It is therefore essential that we condemn these gloriously absurd and utterly wrong calls for his resignation. He is the most in-touch, ordinary man I have ever known to become a Member of Parliament. He has continually pursued the interests of people in this city, and I consider him an inspiration and an overall decent man.

Thank you, Hugh.

Luke Charters-Reid, Lime Avenue, Heworth, York.

• I HAVE agreed not to comment further on the issue of Hugh Bayley stepping down, but to leave it as a matter for him and his conscience.

However, I would like to respond to Liz Edge (Letters, April 14), who claims that if I retired it would make way for someone currently unemployed. No it wouldn’t. I am not an employed person with a contract of employment. I am an entrepreneur, a mover and shaker, a creator of jobs, I make things happen – but only when I am active. When my enterprise stops, the economic activity stops; and the employment stops. Those who look to me to provide a livelihood would have to look elsewhere. Being self-employed is not like working for a company or a local authority or being a member of Parliament. Those positions come with a job description and terms and conditions; and the incumbents can be replaced. Being Matthew Laverack is not a job that anyone can apply for either now or in the future.

Matthew Laverack Lord Mayor’s Walk, York.

• Liz Edge is wrong when she says “the majority of people in York give Hugh Bayley overwhelming support”.

In the 2010 election, 18,573 voted for Bayley, with 23,816 voting collectively for Conservative and Lib-Dem candidates, and a further 4,094 for the remaining four representatives.

This meant that the majority of those who voted did not vote for him, by 9,337.

Support for Mr Bayley has declined at the past two elections: in 2001 he received 52.3 per cent of the vote, with 46.9 per cent in 2005 and 40 per cent in 2010.

It may surprise some readers that in the past 100 years there have been more Conservative MPs at seven, than Labour at four, in York. Conservative MPs represented the city for 50 of those years, with Labour for 44 years and Liberal six years.

Paul S Cordock, Durlston Drive, Strensall, York.