J. K. Rowling and the curse of the left

How people who want a fairer society should vote at this election is causing agonies across the liberal-left. It is easy to mock the torn activists. Why do they bother? One vote is worth next to nothing under a PR system. Under first past the post there are hundreds of safe seats where there’s no point in voting, let alone worrying about how you vote.

The number of safe Tory seats is likely to grow after this election. Indeed, if you believe the opinion polls, it is likely to rocket. The futility of casting a token anti-Tory vote is more apparent than ever.

For all that, those who laugh at conscientious leftists are laughing at democracy. How can you justify it unless voters care about who they vote for? Would you rather live in a county where the public did not care or where they did not vote at all?

With these questions in mind Sarah Ditum of the New Statesman addressed