Is anyone else just completely and utterly done with politics?

The only way that things will get better is if people engage. Now is not the time to ‘spoil ballot papers’ or ‘never vote again’. Farage and his braying mob will only win if we don’t stand up to them. Yes, it’s shocking that he’s not being called out for his racist misogynistic behaviour, but if you don’t want him in power you need to make your voice heard, not throw in the towel. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that the country is in a mess, but Farage is just riling up the masses and pointing the finger at people in small boats and hotels to raise division and hate. If you don’t raise your voice, he’s won.

The only way that things will get better is if people engage. Now is not the time to ‘spoil ballot papers’ or ‘never vote again’. Farage and his braying mob will only win if we don’t stand up to them. Yes, it’s shocking that he’s not being called out for his racist misogynistic behaviour, but if you don’t want him in power you need to make your voice heard, not throw in the towel. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that the country is in a mess, but Farage is just riling up the masses and pointing the finger at people in small boats and hotels to raise division and hate. If you don’t raise your voice, he’s won.

But Corbyn is unelectable. He proved it. May opened the door for him but he couldn’t get through.

I feel the same @PrincessC0nsuelaBananaHammock

I think the problem is social media/ internet.
Since about 2016 the perception of politics has totally changed and it’s like the world has become hysterical, politicians included.
I am a Labour voter who is feeling really frustrated by certain things they have done ( the farmers and the NI increase mainly) but the trouble is, with information now being both instant and incomplete there’s a constant sense of panic at all times.
My disappointment in Starmer is that I had hoped that the current lot might lead from conviction, stick to their principles and eventually people would start to realise that turning such a big ship takes time and to trust that the country is heading towards stability.
What seems to actually have happened is that the current government are utterly reactive and not leading the way. The media has them running scared from Reform, and they are contributing to this narrative that Reform are the opposition which they were absolutely not a year ago.
I’m not surprised the communications director was sacked.
I wanted grown ups, and it doesn’t feel like that a lot of the time. Partly because of Reeves breakdown, partly because of Raynors behaviour. I actually rated Reeves ( know her a bit) and would have had so much respect for her if she had gone against whatever it was Starmer was insisting she do that she didn’t agree with and resigned, rather than blubbing in the commons.
It’s very frustrating.
I will vote next time but only to keep Farage out, because if he gets in I’m emigrating and I’d rather not have to.

Yes - I hate them all at this point. I do believe we need to vote, so come election time I will hold my nose and vote for whichever option seems least awful, but other than that I have disengaged completely.

Within reason, yes, but the electorate can only vote for the candidates put in front of them.

Oh, and regarding the terrible state of the country, I blame the public, not the politicians (so much). We get what we vote for.

Well you might be done with politics but politics is not done with you regardless of whether you choose to vote or not.

I feel a bit like this.

I’m an ex-Labour activist, and I campaigned for them in a marginal seat last year.

I obviously realised that the Labour government would inherit a total shitshow from the Tories and that starting to turn the country round would take years, not months. But their appalling succession of unforced errors (winter fuel, jobs tax, failed welfare reform, Rayner, Mandelson etc etc) have squandered every scrap of goodwill & patience the country may have given them. Where they have tried to make progress, eg on our relationship with the EU, they have been paralysed by caution & fear when radical reform was needed.

When a party campaigns on a promise of ‘Change’, then delivers what feels like more of the same, they can’t be surprised when people become totally disillusioned very quickly.

I agree op. The problems the country are facing just seem massive at the moment and no-one seems to have the leadership skills to lead and address the problems.
I think we need more cross party solutions on the big issues although appreciate it's not going to happen.
We just seem to be drifting into massive issues with young people unemployed, an ever rising state pension age with more and more people on benefits and an unfit for purpose social care system and no-one seems to be doing anything much to address these massive issues.

I understand why you are saying that. I am getting to that point where I am struggling to know who to vote for.

But I think I'll still vote and participate. My degree is in language and politics, so it's something I'll probably always be interested in

I know what you mean, OP, but it's almost impossible to disengage from it because it impacts every aspect of our lives. Ignore it at your peril. Not voting means your voice is not heard and the voices of others are amplified. Voices that may advocate for the serious infringement (or outright removal) of your rights or the rights of those you care about.

As @TablePourTrois says, they want moderates and those in opposing positions to disengage, so you hand them a gift by doing so. They want you to feel hopeless and helpless in the face of the endless pushing of fear, division and disinformation on social media.

I've been politically homeless for several years now but we have to hold our nose and vote for the "least worst" option.

What can we do? How can we take action? I feel so powerless.

I voted Labour. I think they came into power with an impossible job. I'd hate to see Reform elected.

Everyone's pissed off. The NHS is on it's arse with so many Trusts in financial difficulty with recruitment freezes in place in some Trusts which means there aren't as many jobs available for anyone, including the newly qualified professionals who were hoping to improve their circumstances. Even when jobs are available, it's depressing looking at the salary versus the cost of housing. It feels like we're being robbed everytime we go to the supermarket and that basket of shopping is £££ higher than it was last week for the same products. How are people managing? Some people were already on the breadline before the cost of living crisis, they were already buying cheap brands, cooking budget meals from scratch, using leftovers, doing price comparisons on everything, etc. How are those people coping now?!

I became an adult around the time of the 2008 financial crash, then we had Brexit, Covid, the cost of living crisis. It feels like it's all been so doom and gloom all of my adult life. When will we get a break? When will things get better?

Well for a start, they want decent people to disengage from politics, so the path is clear for them to do whatever the hell they want.
Don't disengage, fight for what's right. No to fascism.

Yep I agree. I will be voting to keep Reform out though so whichever way is best.

I feel the same at times but the problem is that if all the reasonable human beings of any normal voting persuasion shut up shop out of desperation only the bonkers, rabid crowd will remain.

Back before the tories sunk into the mire of brexit and all that followed, before labour became obsessed with men in frocks, before farage normalised racism, and trump normalised stupidity and sociopathy it was safe enough to not be political.

Whoever got into power was going to be fairly reasonable if not necessarily your cup of tea.

These days electing a government is a matter of life or death.
Or at least the death of life as we know it if Farage has his way.

Agree - surely counterproductive.

I understand the frustration and disillusionment but this I won't be voting in 2029 and I doubt I ever will again is an irrational and self-sabotaging response.

It's depressing, but should spur people into politics, rather than away.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

I'm still not sure what I can do. Any ideas?

*convicted - not conveyed!

I don’t think that politics is any worse now than it has been in the past. What has changed is this obsession with knowing every single bit of a politician’s personal life either currently or from 20 years ago. And any perceived transgression (applying
modern views) results in calls for resignation. All the big politicians of the 1910s,1920s, 1930s, 1940s etc were all avoiding tax, sleeping with their secretary etc but it wasn’t considered relevant to their ability to their job. Now we apply these draconian standards to politicians and the media hounds them for any possible transgression. It is simply unsustainable and creating these impossible standards and constant media coverage makes it so much likely that the bad guys will gain power due to people being brainwashed into thinking that modern politics are worse now than in the past. It is distasteful to have an affair but not illegal, it is distasteful to have believed and supported a friend when they swore to you that they were wrongly conveyed but not illegal.

It all feels so hopeless. I've stopped following politics as closely as I used to.

We desperately need to raise taxes to pay for everything but we can't do that because housing is so expensive that a lot of people wouldn't be able to afford it.

The social contract is broken. The message was always "if you work hard, you can have a reasonably good standard of living" but that's no longer the case. People in professional jobs (that they've studied and worked hard for years to get) are paying like 60% of their net income to private landlords each month and having to budget carefully for basics.

The message in society now seems to be "work hard and marry or partner up with someone who is also working hard and you might just be ok".

I know there's always been wealth inequality but the wealth gap seems so much bigger now, and like it's increasing all the time - the haves and the have nots.

Yep, completely done with it. It’s just the same old shit over and over again. But I’m pretty worried about Reform getting in (so will vote in the next GE) as that, for me, is too close to how the Nazis started.