An election has been called. The pundits are buzzing. Twitter is alive with political chat. But for most people, as Britain lurches from crisis to crisis, it’s hard to know where to begin.

This election has the potential to determine the future of our country. It has already been called “the most unpredictable election in decades”, and yet its consequences are set to be massive. While Brexit is currently the issue cited by voters as the most important, healthcare, the economy, and the environment are also on voters’ minds. And Britain’s direction - on climate action, on trade, on economic justice - is at stake.

But wherever you stand on these issues, at the centre of our political system there is a lack of accountability. Our archaic institutions like the House of Lords and our unrepresentative voting system mean that many politicians are safe in their jobs come what may, and we can’t make them accountable to us.

Even more than our electoral system, the British state itself is designed to ignore and exclude the wishes of millions between elections. Once in government, politicians will remain free to act as they wish and we have no way of restraining them until the next election. Our hyper-centralised political system gives the prime minister - whoever it may be - immense power.  This general election will return a new parliament (and possibly a new government), but it will not return a new system. 

We can’t afford to take a chance on an undemocratic system that has failed us so greatly and so often. Just look at some of the most recent threats to our social and economic protections:

• Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal would leave the government free to sign destructive trade deals. These could endanger workers’ rights, environmental protections, and even our public services. A full 71% of us think the NHS should be off the table in any trade negotiation. But under the current system, the government is unaccountable in trade negotiations because they are negotiated using the executive’s Royal Prerogative power. Even if we don’t trust the prime minister to keep his word, we don’t have the power to do anything about it.

• Our electoral system is vulnerable to manipulation by dark money, the law is weak and the Electoral Commission is almost powerless to intervene. The last general election and the 2016 referendum campaign saw serious breaches of the law, but no campaigners have been prosecuted for their wrongdoing.

For all that it looks like things are changing, the power imbalance at the centre of the political system remains.

The small handful of people who hold political power have no incentive to change the system because they benefit from it. That’s why we still have an unfair voting system that distorts elections and deprives millions of a voice. That’s why we still have an unelected House of Lords. Whatever happens in this election - important though it is - those who are empowered by the current system will not change it.

The only thing that can change our political system is pressure from the outside. That means building a movement of activists with the skills and determination to do it. And that task falls to all of us.

We’re challenging the status quo, and that means taking on well-funded opponents of change.

Help power our movement by donating to Unlock Democracy today.

This was written by Matthew, Unlock Democracy’s Membership & Fundraising Assistant