The article refers to "London", but likely that means what is now the City of London, just one of 32 boroughs of Greater London. Few live in the City of London ("the City") these days, it's mostly business and finance.
There's now only about 10,000 residents - most of whom are in a single estate - the Barbican. Business votes now far exceed individuals.
That doesn't touch on freemen, livery companies, and all the other archaic complexity.
Secret City covers a lot of it, but the film is as much about the financial crisis.
Votes are provided based on corporation size, so just setting up shell companies won't work.