Johann Hari writes about the perversity of our electoral system in today’s Independent. Gordon Brown’s going to have to give some serious thought about how he’s going to buy the votes of those living in marginal constituencies because the Tories are way ahead of him:

The banker Ashcroft comes 89th on the Sunday Times Rich List, clocking in at £800m. He keeps much of this fortune stashed away in Belize, a Central American tax haven, and he lavishes cash on right-wing governments that cut taxes for people like him, from Australia to Central America. Now he is David Cameron’s paymaster, with a desk at the heart of Conservative Central Office and the modest-sounding title of Deputy Chair.

His plan is simple. He wants to pick the few Middle England swing seats that invariably determine an election in Britain, and lavish his cash on them from now until a few weeks before polling day, when the donations are suddenly capped by election law. He will pay for extensive opinion polling, telephone canvassing, and all-important direct mail, targeted for each constituency’s worries. Last month alone, he spent £2m in swing seats. Labour can’t even begin to compete, never mind the smaller parties.

Previously, I’ve been against state funding of political parties but it’s starting to look like we’re going to have a whip-round to buy back our democracy. Hari again:

If our politics is paid for by the richest one per cent, it will work in the interests of the richest one per cent – just look across the Atlantic. The solution has been outlined in Helena Kennedy’s Power report. She suggested that every British citizen should have to simply tick a box once every few years, donating a couple of pounds from state coffers to the local branch of a political party of their choice. Political parties are an essential part of our democracy: if you complain that you don’t want to pay for them, you might as well complain that you don’t want to pay for the ballot boxes or for the pencils in the voting booths.

I’m almost persuaded; it’s a plan but I’d add a few provisos. At the last election I didn’t vote for anyone, so who gets my two pounds? I’m fond of a protest vote as well but that doesn’t mean I want to give my two quid to that party. Can we have a write-in so I can nominate a charity campaigning for electoral reform?

How about this. Anyone not nominating a party to donate to will receive a voucher for a glass of wine or a pint of beer at their local pub, or a free DVD rental from their local video shop. Let’s see if the political parties can make voting for them more enticing. I wouldn’t bet anything significant on it.