This is the third election that I am covering in this blog, the fourth if you include Brexit, and the fifth if you include my coverage of the American elections. You can read about my coverage of the 2017 election here, and you can read about my views on the 2019 election here. 

During the last two elections I tried to be neutral and give a balanced view. But given the absolute shambles we find ourselves in, this one will be a lot more subjective. That might annoy some of you, and while that isn't my intention, we need to wake up. The most important thing, regardless of who you vote for, is to go out and vote and make the voices of the Sikh community heard.

Exactly four years ago to the day, I wrote an article on the outcome of the 2016 election (which you can read here). I made several predictions for Trump's term, and I reflected on the state of the US. I thought the presidency might have a tempering effect on Trump, and while I thought his tendency to speak his mind wouldn't die down. I figured that much of his rhetoric would be just that, and it might end up actually being an uneventful term.

I was wrong.

So after four years of tweets, protests, tariffs, more protests and more tweets, I try to sum up what happened in the past four years, where the US is now, and what lies ahead for the world's oldest democracy.

When I wrote an article on the 2017 general election, I had no idea that just two short years later I'd be back writing for another general election, the third general election in less than 5 years.

It's something we associate with other European countries where hung parliaments are common. Politics in the UK is supposed to be stable, almost boring. Well, the past few years have turned the UK's traditional, liberal, centrist political stability on its head.

During the years of New Labour I remember thinking how similar the Tories and Labour were - there was very little difference in policy and it was like choose option (a) or choose option (a) - with little real actual choice. I can't say that anymore. Both main parties have been hijacked by extremists. Labour is now further left than at any point in my time on this planet, while the Tories are flirting dangerously with the far-right. While we have a choice now - it doesn't seem like an appealing one.

As with my last article, this isn't about telling you ​who to vote for, but a call to go out and vote. After all, an engaged Sikh electorate means we can pressure politicians to hold our vote to account and ensure issues affecting our community have ears in the corridors of Whitehall.

On 18 April 2017, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May announced that she would be calling an election on 8 June 2017. This follows a General Election in 2015, just two years earlier.

The Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011 had removed the power of the Prime Minister to call an election at the drop of a hat, or when conditions were favourable to the governing party. Under the Act, elections would be held every five years unless the House of Commons voted by two thirds to the contrary. With the spectre of Brexit hanging over the country and the opposition party in disarray, Theresa May decided this would be the perfect opportunity to strengthen her position both domestically and in terms of negotiating the withdrawal from the EU.

Unfortunately for her, as the campaign season kicked off, she began to show signs of weakness, no matter how many times she said she was "strong and stable", whilst the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn somehow got his sh*t together and began closing the gap in polls. Now, for all intents and purposes, the question isn't whether the Conservatives will win, but by how much they will win, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go out and vote.

I'm not telling you who to vote for, you should do the research and make an informed decision. However, for the Sikh community to prosper, we need to become more politically engaged and therefore I will say; go out and vote.

It's the election that shocked the world. On Tuesday 8 November 2016, the United States of America elected Donald Trump to be its 45th President.

America is a country built on progressive ideals. An open country that has become the superpower it is today through immigration from all parts of the world. A country that has championed free trade and as Thomas Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, the 'equality of all men'.

Its precisely for these reasons that it was so shocking to see America turn its back on those very ideals and elect a President who has built his whole campaign on hatred and protectionism. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the world will end just because Donald Trump is President, but it makes you wonder what makes a country such as America elect such a controversial figure.
 
I have read numerous comments and articles denigrating Americans for their choice of leader. Although I agree that the Government-Corporate machinery that is America is heading down a dark path, I still believe that Americans are honest, decent and hardworking people who do not deserve all the negative attention they are receiving.