The current local election here in St Peter's ward, Brighton, is a truly surreal experience.

Despite the novelty of a fully postal-based voting system and a ballot paper crammed with candidates, only two parties - the Greens and Labour - have even bothered to post leaflets through my front door.

Have the other parties consulted their spin gurus and pollsters and decided St Peter's is a lost cause? In that case, why stand for election in the first place?

As it happens, my own three votes were crying out to be given to one of the "other" parties but, instead, I have reluctantly voted for candidates who proved they could at least get out of bed in the mornings.

Is this to be the pattern of politics in the 21st Century? If so, God help us all.

-Tim Holman, Brighton