Like every other Brit in their early 20s, Jack Braginton has spent his formative knowing nothing other than a Conservative Government.
But now the 23-year-old wants to be part of a what he hopes will be a nationwide political shake-up, announcing he is running for a seat in Westminster after becoming disillusioned with the powers that be.
The Long Sutton resident calls his decision a ‘sense of duty’, pulling no punches as he says ‘nothing works in this country anymore’.
Mr Braginton, who works as an administrator, has been named as the Liberal Democrats’ prospective parliamentary candidate for South Holland and the Deepings at the next general election, where he looks set to stand against Conservative incumbent Sir John Hayes in what is traditionally one of the safest seats in the country.
“I’ve never known such discontent, vocal discontent, with the Conservative party,” said the former Spalding Grammar School pupil, explaining his decision to put his name on the ballot paper.
“People are really feeling the pinch with the cost of living crisis and the overwhelming message I’m getting is that things just don’t work. Nothing works in this country anymore.
“I feel a sense of duty that someone has to stand up and call it out for what it is and to provide an alternative.
“A lot of people are saying the Conservatives have done a lot of damage, but what else is there? It’s my job to try to provide that positive optimistic vision the Lib Dems want to set out.”
While polls are predicting Rishi Sunak’s Tories will tumble at the next election following 14 years in power, much of Lincolnshire is expected to remain blue.
That includes the South Holland and the Deepings seat which Sir John has held since 1997 - even if a YouGov poll reported last week suggested his 75.9% majority from the 2019 election would drop to 36.8%.
“I have great respect for Mr Hayes. He’s been the MP here longer than I’ve been alive,” Mr Braginton continued.
“But I think that if there’s a time for change then now is the time.
“Things can be better, we don’t have to accept the way things are and this vision of decline.”
That ‘vision of decline’ is an issue Mr Braginton believes has affected this country for far too long.
“We’ve seen the Government go from crisis to crisis, especially over the last five years,” he said.
“They’ve been in charge throughout my formative years - from going to school and growing up - and I’m not seeing the pay off for that.
“They talk about a long-term plan. You think back to austerity and we were told to tighten our belts and save the economy for the long term and the next generation, and I look around and think ‘we’re all suffering still after 14 years’.
“It seems the Conservatives will just tell us to tighten our belts again. The people who should be tightening their belts are these mega-corporations who are exploiting us by putting bills up, not the people of South Holland and the Deepings.
“We’ve been through enough thank you.”
Mr Braginton believes that what he sees as national discontent is very much an issue for the people in and around his home town and across the district.
“A lot of people I speak to are feeling they’re really left behind,” he said.
“There’s a real sense that things aren’t working.
“People have a pride in their community, rightly so. I think they deserve a class of politician who will reflect this and deliver for them.
“My big focus is on infrastructure. I can see a lot of systemic issues holding back our rural communities.
“When we see cuts to public services it disproportionately affects us and it’s harder to get access top those services.
“Seeing the decline in local businesses and the economy, I want to push for better transport infrastructure. We need more footfall in our towns and better connections to cities where a lot of the wealth is generated.
“Everything’s broken and it as a shame I have to stand here and say first and foremost ‘we will get things functioning again, we will fight for your bills to come down, for food prices to return to normal’.
“These are key issues, making sure things are working again.”
