Across Britain, people are asking the same question: Why does nothing seem to work anymore?

Families are stretched by soaring prices, pensioners worry about heating their homes, and patients face ever-longer waits for NHS treatment.

Our rivers are polluted, our economy is fragile, and faith in politics has collapsed.

A fresh YouGov poll for Sky News underlines this mood. Labour has sunk to its lowest approval rating of this Parliament, with just 20 percent of voters now backing Sir Keir Starmer’s party, the weakest showing since last year’s general election.

The Conservatives, after years of turmoil, inspire little more confidence. Together, the two main parties are presiding over levels of public disillusionment not seen for a generation.

That vacuum of trust is fuelling something darker. Across Europe and beyond, right-wing populists are on the rise: Nigel Farage and Reform here in the UK, Donald Trump in the United States, the AfD in Germany, Marine Le Pen’s RN in France, Giorgia Meloni’s FdI in Italy, and Austria’s FPO. Each feeds on anger and hopelessness, offering easy slogans but no solutions.

Labour entered government promising a new direction, but its first months in office have been marked by hesitation and poor judgment.

A striking early decision was the move to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners, only to backtrack under public pressure.

The party also allowed bus fares to rise, imposed a tax change that alarmed family farmers, and increased National Insurance contributions, placing heavier burdens on small businesses, GP surgeries, care homes and other vital employers.

Instead of urgency and vision, the country has seen a government slow to act and unwilling to match the scale of the challenges we face. The economy is still struggling, families continue to feel the squeeze, the NHS is stretched to breaking point, and the sewage crisis in our waterways persists.

After years of Conservative turmoil and now Labour’s faltering start, many people feel abandoned by politics altogether. Confidence that Westminster can improve lives is ebbing away. Add to that the instability overseas, from conflicts to global economic shocks, and it is no surprise that pessimism at home is running deep.

But, and it is a big ‘but’ in Farnham, other parts of Surrey and across Hampshire, the Liberal Democrats are showing that politics can still serve people — not just in slogans, but in action. For example:

These may not make national headlines, but they matter. They show what politics can achieve when it is rooted in community, guided by fairness and focused on results.

The collapse in Labour’s support, alongside the Conservatives’ long record of failure, shows clearly that Britain is crying out for a new direction. And with approval ratings for the government sinking back to pre-election lows, the moment for fresh leadership is now.

In conversations I’ve had in Farnham and Bordon, I hear the same thing time and again: People want competence, fairness and hope. They are tired of politics that takes them for granted — or worse, lets them down.

So now we must continue to lead the way, with big, bold policies to tackle the challenges facing our country in the years ahead.

We are striving to clear up the enormous mess left by the Conservatives and build the fair, free and open society we all believe in. Doing what liberalism is all about, which is putting real power in people’s hands and holding the already powerful properly to account.

That is how we can deliver for our communities, turn back the tide of populism, and change people’s lives for the better — by showing people that their voices count, their votes matter, and liberal democracy can work for them.

Our local communities deserve better. And together, we can deliver it.

Khalil Yousuf, Former Liberal Democrat prospective MP for Farnham & Bordon

Email: [email protected]