Hi, I'm Willy, I was a Support Worker but was made redundant in April because of cuts to public services.

Full statement

I was told that there wasn't enough money and to accept it's just the way it is. That nothing ever changes and that there's nothing we can do about it, because it would be swimming against the power in politics.

I spoke to some local council candidates about the things they think are important for the community, and they told me they couldn’t advocate for those issues because of their party’s agenda. It's clear to me that party politics doesn’t work. I decided to try to make change as an independent, so I joined a network of Independents who want to represent their constituents through deliberative direct democracy.

I've heard too many times from people who feel locked out of politics that there's nothing we can do to change things for the better. Running as an Independent candidate, I'm experiencing firsthand just how geared up the process is for political parties and how challenging it is to get going in politics if you don't have money to pay people, and aren't in the politics 'club'.

I don't have a party manifesto. Instead, my campaign is working with Exeter-based community groups to put on local community assemblies to build my manifesto. We're using facilitated discussions in and around Exeter to find out what issues are affecting the people around us and what they want done about them.

Along with Assemble-affiliated Independents across the UK, I'm calling for the use of Citizens' Assemblies to include ordinary members of the public in the democratic process.

It's not a perfect process, and we need community mobilisation in order to expand and develop our assemblies, but our first few have been magical and have given me a lot of faith in my neighbours. Ultimately, it's a lot better than a political party telling you what they will do, instead of asking you.

Our next big assembly is on the 23rd, based around 'housing, homelessness, and poverty' (sign up here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/exeter-community-assembly-homelessness-housing-and-poverty). Our plan is to knock on doors and help organise very local neighbour assemblies to encouarge debate and help people to recognise the power they have together.

Ultimately, we all want fairness and common-sense solutions to the problems we're experiencing. I trust the people of Exeter to find those solutions, and they can definitely trust me to shout loudly about them in Parliament!

Let's get there together, Willy Poulter