It’s 2024, and with it comes the prospect of a General Election. Many will say the sooner the better and will be wondering just when Rishi Sunak will call a halt to the charade that passes for a government.

This won’t be the only election in 2024. We have the Local Elections, the West Midlands Mayor election and the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner election all on the Thursday 2^nd May 2024 so, a real chance of a good clear out.

Sunak could, as many are predicting, take the option to call the General Election on the same day as part of a damage limitation strategy in the hope that with so many elections all happening together folk will lose sight of just how bad another term of office for the Tories would be.

Whatever he chooses to do, there is the potential for change. The change so many have been craving for not just at Westminster but at the Combined Authority and Tory run Councils across the Black Country and wider West Midlands. Providing of course, folk exercise their democratic right to vote.

Many have been asking what’s the point? How many times do we hear that politicians are all the same and are only in it for what they can get out it. Their promises mean nothing.

The net result of all this scepticism is that a growing number are choosing not to vote, even if it means the Tories get in for another four or five years. Can our democracy stand five more years of this divide and rule government? How did we get to this sorry state?

The answer may well rest in our antiquated system of governance and is shaped by a voting system which, more often than not, results in governments supported by less than 50% of voters. The current Conservative government has 350 of the 650 seats in the Commons yet has the support of only 44% of voters. How can that be right?

Liberal Democrats are the only major political party committed to making the changes needed to bring about a much fairer and more trusting society.