IF YOU were lucky enough to be standing or sailing on the Equator two or three days ago at exactly midday, and you are as bald as me, you would have seriously needed a hat. For the sun would have been shining directly down on your head.

More relevant for us, stuck as we are more than half way between the Equator and the North Pole, it’s the glorious time of the year when the daylight hours start to get longer than the hours of darkness.

The summer half of the year has started. They are even bringing the clocks forward next weekend!

This is good news for the dwindling bands of party helpers who still go and knock on doors before elections, and bad news for the growing number of people who seem not to like it.

The numbers who simply ignore any knock on their front door is certainly at an all-time high. I blame the Jehovah’s Witnesses, they probably blame politicians, but it’s more likely to do with the general decline in sociability (as opposed to synthetic sociability on the internet).

What is certain is that those of us who still go knocking on doors will rarely end up discussing the practical ways in which the political system and government generally can be improved.

Everyone says the political system is in crisis yet few seem interested in the things that must be done to sort it all out. Exposing and shaming individuals is much more fun but unless the system is reformed, it’s all pointless in the end.

One group that’s trying to change this is Power2000, formerly the Power Inquiry, which is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. On the basis of an internet vote of around 100,000, they have set out their five top proposals to transform our politics: 1. A proportional voting system. 2. Scrap ID cards and “roll back the database state”. 3. A fully elected Upper House to replace the Lords. 4. Allow only English MPs to vote on English matters. 5. Draw up a written constitution.

Do you care about these things? I strongly agree with four of them. They are all far more important issues than most of the stuff that will dominate the next six weeks.