Before we can expect to win popular support for the new party, we have to give constructive attempts at changing things at a local level a chance. To this end we have to get people to try to make the Sustainable Communities Act work in spite of the doubters. If and when these attempts end in frustration we need to seize the opportunity to turn this into determination to reform the system that frustrates us rather than allow cynicism to set in.

We cannot expect the new party to achieve significant electoral success until either the House of Lords becomes an elected chamber or the House of Commons is elected under proportional representation. That does not stop the new organisation from raising the profile of single issue parties, selling the concept of parties that do not seek a place in government, and continuing to highlight the deficiencies in our system of government. There is plenty to do!

It is useful to have a mental picture of how the new party might kick off the process of winning democracy for Britain. It is worth considering the example of New Zealand, which, starting in 1982, has transformed its polity. New Zealand had a clear driver for change - the ending of Commonwealth Preference. The key dates are: 1982 - the passing of the Official Information Act, State Sector Act 1988, and 1993 - the introduction of a proportional voting system.

The Official Information Act (roughly the Equivalent of our Freedom of Information Act, only better) was intended primarily to facilitate public participation in government and secondarily to enable government to be held to account. In fact, in the early days the Act was used primarily to hold the government to account. Only later has it been used to influence the formulation of laws and policies.

The State Sector Act defined the respective responsibilities of ministers and civil servants, thus introducing meaningful accountability.

Finally in 1993 the Mixed Member Proportional voting system was adopted. This is very similar to the system used for the election of Members of both the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.

In our judgement, this sequence of events seems the most likely way in which democracy could be achieved in Britain. Our first tasks will be to make the public aware that every department of state has been dysfunctional in living memory, and that in future there must be no buck passing; someone must pay for incompetence and broken promises. In parallel with this we must campaign for an elected Second chamber which will focus on scrutiny.

Secondly we must press the point of why the Accounting Officer Principle - see: Why Parliament Fails Us - Accountability - is not being applied. This will hopefully lead to reforms along the lines of the new Zealand State Sector Act.

Once life has been made thoroughly uncomfortable for ministers and civil servants, they may see the benefit of the more co-operative style of government which a proportional voting system would encourage.