2024 brings with it the prospect of a General Election. Judging by many comments I have seen and heard over the past year or so, many of you are frustrated and angry and relish the prospect of a change.

The General Election isn’t the only election in 2024. We also have the prospect of Local Council Elections to look forward to along with the West Midlands Mayor Election and the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner election, all on the same day, Thursday 2^nd May. So, 2024 gives us all a real chance of a damned good clear out.

The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could has a number of options to choose from. He could, as many are predicting, opt for later on in the year, or he could take the option to call the General Election on the same day as the Locals. This would make sense on cost grounds alone, but it would also help us to see things in the wider perspective.

The last General Election was a one issue affair, getting Brexit done. It was so divisive and poured oil on already troubled waters. The way things are shaping up, the next one could be similar, this time on the subject of immigration. Single issues are the thing for referendums, not General Elections as many are finding out to their cost with what’s gone on since 2019.

Whatever Sunak chooses to do, there is the potential for us to go for the change so many of us have been craving for; not just at Westminster, but at the West Midlands Combined Authority and local councils across the Black Country and the wider West Midlands. That is of course, if folk exercise their democratic right to vote.

Many have been asking what’s the point? How many times have we heard 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. How did we get to this sorry state of affairs?

It may well be that we’ve had 3 Prime Ministers, 4 Foreign Secretaries and 5 Chancellors of the Exchequer, all since the last General Election in 2019.

The question many are asking is does the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have the same set of priorities as Johnson? Does he even have the same priorities as he had when he took over from the hapless Liz Truss back on the 22 October 2022? Remember that speech promising a government of integrity, professionalism, and accountability? Judging by recent (Jan ‘24) YouGov figures only 25% of people think he’s doing well. It appears that the majority of people think that the Conservatives are as tired as they look, bereft of new ideas, and as divided as they have ever been.

Time for a change? But is it just a case of out with old, and in with the new? Is it just about personalities? Or does it go deeper than that?

The answer may well rest in our antiquated system of governance at Westminster which harks back to a much different era and is shaped by our “first past the post” voting system which, more often than not, results in governments which are supported by less than 50% of voters yet holding a majority of seats in the Commons.

The current Conservative government has 350 of the 650 seats (54%) in the Commons yet it has the support of only 44% of voters. How can that be right? How can it be fair?

In 2024 you get to have your say. So, whenever the General Election is called, don’t let the Westminster politicians dictate the terms on which it is fought. Check out which Party has the guts to help make the changes needed to break from the past, make every vote count, even if that means (heavens forbid) forming a government which reflects the wishes of the majority, and yes, having to work together with others in giving the people of the United Kingdon more say in how they are governed.

Over the coming days and weeks I will be exploring what change might look like and what it might mean to you.