I must confess to finding a lot of television a turn-off and, in the case of ITV's Vote For Me!, that's exactly what I did.

For those of you who missed it - lucky you.

A cross between Pop Idol and The Weakest Link, it set out to discover who the public believed would make the best independent candidate at the next general election.

I'd given up by the night of the final, but I wasn't surprised to hear the winner was 58-year-old convicted fraudster Rodney Hylton-Potts, who played to the gallery, shamelessly going for the lowest common denominator in his quest for text votes.

By advocating the mass deportation of immigrants and castration of paedophiles, he took the polls by storm.

If someone had promised to bring back hanging, remove the tax on tobacco and introduce a bank holiday to mark David Beckham's birthday, I suspect they would have enjoyed similar success.

No doubt the executives who oversaw this shambles are still reflecting on the wisdom of allowing a national TV platform for such extremist views for five nights running.

However, no-one should be surprised that Hylton-Potts won - come the final programme his supporters were probably the only people still watching.

Vote For Me! failed to give a realistic portrayal of what it takes to be an MP, but it did give an example of one of the pitfalls of proportional representation.

As several European countries have found, there are a small minority of people who hold extreme views. If they can be persuaded to get out and vote en masse, then extreme candidates can win seats.

In Britain, general elections are decided on the basis of votes cast in constituencies, rather than nationally, and this acts as a powerful counterbalance. Candidates are expected to know about local issues and independents also have to overcome the "block vote" of the major parties.

The big issues of immigration and Iraq may dominate the headlines but I'm not convinced this will translate into how votes are cast. The sting has even been drawn from the traditional battleground of taxation, with both major parties seemingly singing from the same hymn sheet.

In fact, there is so much similarity between the major parties that people may well focus more and more on the relative merits of the candidates in their constituency, rather than national manifestoes.

So local issues will be increasingly important when deciding who to vote for and this will certainly benefit good independent candidates.

Peter Mandelson's campaigning experience on the doorsteps of Hartlepool highlights this difference between the real world and that inhabited by the London-centric figures of national politics and media.

Whilst canvassing prior to the last election, Mr Mandelson saw an elderly constituent in heated discussion with one of his campaign team and rushed across the street to take charge personally.

"Madam, is it the European question?," asked Mr Mandelson.

"No," replied the bemused old lady. "It's the hinge on my door. The council promised to repair it weeks ago and I'm still waiting."

Published: 21/01/2005