It can sometimes seem difficult to understand why, despite everything they have done, Tories continue to be elected. That is until you remember that in this country money buys power.

Today we’ve learned that there will be no prosecution of any of the Tories accused of electoral fraud in 2015 (their defence being that they were simply incompetent, not wilfully fraudulent). We’ve also learned that the Tory metro mayor candidate for the West Midlands spent almost £1m on his campaign.

Parties funded by members and the ‘grass roots’, like the Greens, can find just paying the £5,000 election deposit a challenge. What chance do we have for people to give our policies a fair hearing when we are being outspent by such a staggering amount?

UK politics is corrupt. That is clear. It’s time to get rid of those who do well out of it and equalise spending for all parties so the electorate can choose who has the best policies, not who has the most money.