I READ with great interest the letter 'Pity UKIP did not see the light' printed in Postbag (May 20).

I am a UKIP member and I was not going to vote tactically as suggested by the writer, in fact I would not have voted at all.

I choose to vote for a party with the policies that interest me and not blindly for a party name, and as for the suggestion that we lost the Conservatives their seat, it's an absolute joke.

In the last General Election, the Conservatives polled 23,033 votes - this election 25,191. The LibDems with 22,798 lost the last election but this election won with 25,764. Labour in the last polled election 8,254, this election 7,132; and UKIP last election 1,140, this election 1,441.

How did a gain by a minority party lose the Conservatives their seat?

The abuse suffered by the Taunton candidate was not the only UKIP candidate to come under attack - the Somerton and Frome candidate was also the subject of abuse from an opposition party.

We in UKIP have seen the light. The rules and regulations that control our lives have led me to forsake one of the old political parties and vote for the only opposition party - the UKIP.

MRS STEPHANIE LUKINS Homefield Cottage, Stoke St Gregory