This week, KeepRightOnline welcomes to its pages, Miss Serene John-Richards, 21. Studying Economics with East European Studies at UCL, she is also the Universities Officer for London CF and works part time as a pupil supervisor. Take it away Serene...

[caption id="attachment_267" align="alignright" width="164" caption="Serene John-Richards, London CF"][/caption]Is our political system really doomed? "Yes!" I hear you say, "Politicians only help themselves. Our economy is beyond repair, it's the end of capitalism!" Are people frantically twittering in the vain hope of warning Jesus of the looming apocalypse?

People are angry, yes. People are fed up with poor value for money, and are realising that their votes don't count for much, what with 85% of our laws coming from Europe and what not.

But hang on. Hasn't Egypt's Hosni Mubarak been president since 1981? And I'm pretty sure they've postponed Habeas Corpus until the state of emergency is deemed not quite so grave. Don't even get me started on Iran and even our friends in America, the blueprint of democracy, until recently sent people to Guantanamo Bay. And contrary to the exotic name, we're not sipping sangria: I can tell you that.

Our politicians are clearly a fairly relaxed breed. The heavy burden of constituency dinners, case work, trips abroad, and long weeks of recess can be testing. Are they now simply glorified social workers? I wonder if the blame really does rest in our politicians or indeed in us: the electorate.

There is little doubt that, thanks to the Labour Government, we've become a blame society: rarely taking any responsibility ourselves and some even miss the 'good old days, when Council officers would flip my mattress'. No jokes.

Change comes from within. There is no doubt that Obama's powerful message of change earned him the presidency. Although, will he in time tire of dragging a rather large sack of potatoes, and realise that his offer of change does not mean the people themselves have changed?

It is our job to campaign and to hold politicians to account, as well as to engage with our fellow voters. Politicians can't do it, unless it's more of Hannan and less of our dear PM on YouTube. We are a democracy, and have all the necessary tools at our disposal. It is up to us, therefore, to dictate its agenda.