SIR - Democracy (of a sort) has spoken and the winning party now has a mandate to carry out all its manifesto commitments if it so wishes.

As usual under our polling system, there are more people who didn’t vote for the winning party than those who did.

Labour will spend much time licking its wounds and on trying to decide what it needs to do to be successful and win power again in the future.

As previously, there will be many who will counsel they need to position themselves more as ‘Conservative-lite’ or ‘Toryism with a human face’.

This, however, would hardly have had much effect in stalling the massive loss of ‘heartland’ seats in Scotland!

Many will feel dispirited and demoralised at least for a while, but politics and democracy has surely never been purely about casting a vote once every five years at the ballot box.

Those who care about issues affecting people on a whole range of subjects need to continue to hold those in power to account, particularly over their actions affecting the most vulnerable in society.

If real change starts from below, as I believe it does, Ed Miliband’s departing words as Labour leader to “keep fighting” have never been more relevant for those in opposition.

Those who care about values such as fairness and equality and decency should take heed and heart from that.

David Hornsby, West View Avenue, Wrose