How do you feel about politics today?

If you're like me, then you've noticed that politics isn't what it used to be. Rather than a national conversation it has become an argument. Even simple areas of policy become battlegrounds with parties trying to 'win' rather than to do what is best for the people they represent. This tribal landscape is getting more aggressive and it's the people who suffer the consequences.

We're all humans, we all like to feel connection, solidarity and a sense of shared identity. Our politicians know this and in the last decade have stopped appealing to our sense of reason and logic, instead focussing on the emotive. Political parties have ceased to be groups united by a common set of principals, and have become more closely linked to our identities. However, every 'us' creates a 'them'.

There was a time when political discussion could focus on issues, and dialogue existed in a constructive manner. Today, politics and cultural adherence, have become so divided that we are losing the ability to work together for a common good.

We all sense that politics is getting worse, but we feel powerless to change things. Whoever we vote for, we are still voting for a partisan system that is more focussed on party-politics, than in serving the people. We have no choice but to keep voting for parties that promise change, but are all tied in to the same system.

I don't want to continue voting for things to get worse. This is why I have decide to give the people of this constituency a choice. On 1st May, we will have a choice to vote for a local, independent candidate, committed to serving the people, and no-one else. There will be an option to vote for something other than the party system that has led us to this point. We can show the country that we are not powerless, and that there is an alternative.

Be independent, vote independent.