In five days time it will all be over, we will have voted in what could quite realistically be our last ever European Election. It will be the final chance for my family and around 8M other people to be represented by Nigel Farage MEP and possibly the second person on the UKIP list, Janice Atkinson pictured here expressing herself without words. Nigel has been my MEP since 1999 and I have never met him, never had a chance to attend a surgery type meeting to raise my concerns at his failure to represent my views more effectively, never been sent anything by letter or email that is informative outside the 5 yearly election appeal. By contrast I have met both of the Green MEPs who have over that period represented the South East (only one at a time) and the Lib Dem MEP who currently represents the South East. I have also had a response on several occasions from one of the Conservative MEPs. Three out of 10 is perhaps better than most people will have experienced, but its not a great result for a group who are meant to work on our behalf.

However this weeks European elections are not alone in being the end of life as we know it. Of course they can only be the final European Elections if David Camerons Tories win the next General Election outright and if he cannot improve the British settlement in Europe, but such an outcome is certainly possible.

The next stage in shaping our Political future will be taken in September when the Scots decide if they want to continue with the British Union. If they vote for Independence as seems entirely possible, the future of our general elections will change for ever unless we also take action. Based on the current safe seats in Parliamentary constituencies remaining safe seats, all future General Elections are bound to be won by the Conservative Party due to the loss of the Scottish safe Labour seats from Westminster. Whilst technically the election in 2015 will be fought on old, pre Independence arrangements, the prospect of a Labour win in seats North of Hadrians Wall must be slimmer than before and even if they do win, their role as MPs will be cut short once the Independence is made a reality during the Parliament!

Yesterday I spent the morning with a small group of people committed to providing an alternative for local communities to the Party Political dominated way of deciding how to run Councils and indeed our Parliament. Whilst our group is small and our efforts at best will only change the system at the margins in constituencies that are open to change, this marginal change may be sufficient to remove the safety from many of these seats. Our group is not alone, if you read todays blog by someone whose blogs I usually read and appreciate, known as a “The Dragons best friend” you will find a list of organisations that like the one I am involved in are articulating a better way forward. Let us hope that whatever does happen on Thursday, and then again in September, that many of our 62M residents begin to sense that their role in the future democratic leadership of our nations, is more than simply marking a ballot paper with a cross. If the Political ‘elites’ push us too far, or indeed if we collectively fail to reach out to shape our own society, the risk is that the anger felt by small numbers of people will lead to revolution, rather than the evolution that still seems possible and desirable. Every time a Politician raises their finger towards electors as Janice Atkinson has done literally or as people such as Patrick Mercer have done metaphorically the inequality in our democracy stings enough to make us angry. If we get too angry our capacity to find a new paradigm might be lost, but if we don’t feel a little bit angry, enough to demand change, these odious people will have won!