My social media feeds seem to have been taken over by the American presidential elections.

It’s really worrying to me that so much of the media that we consume is fed to us and our children by a small group of vested interests. On X (formerly Twitter) the type of images and clips on my feed have taken on a seriously sinister tone since ‘they changed the algorithm’.

There seem to be more explicitly violent acts, humiliation dressed up as humour and nasty ‘commentary’ from faceless accounts hiding behind anonymous profiles. Suffice to say my engagement with X has dropped significantly. In the UK, it’s time for people who espouse the views of GB ‘News’ to do some research about who owns and runs it. But back to the US Presidential Elections. What has struck me most is the very comprehensive focus on personality and the relatively light focus on policy. Other than abortion rights and immigration, I have found it hard to understand the policy platforms. Policy debate seems to have been sacrificed on the alter of the Cult of Personality.

Rallies with huge crowds, a million balloons, caps with banal slogans and polystyrene pointy figures are the order of the day, as supporters scream like adoring pop fans at their two idols. We are supposed to espouse the special relationship with the great old US of A. But I’m struck by how much closer our political system is with our European neighbours, rather than the USA. In recent snap French Presidential elections, policy dominated. Disregard for a moment your own political leanings. The election was all about immigration, retirement age and the economy.

The French people voted on the basis of the vision that each political party was presenting – not on the personality of the person that was leading that party. It was the similar here in the UK, where the economy, NHS, immigration, pollution and education dominated the debate.

Actually, there was relatively little debate about whether Keir Starmer or Rishi Sunak would make a better Prime Minister. People voted on the vision and priorities presented by the pollical parties. And it was very heartening to see, because leaders come and go. The values of political parties are far more rooted. The contrast with America couldn’t be starker.

For us in Government now, we know the people have given us a powerful mandate for a strong economy, transformed to take advantage of the opportunities of a renewal energy future that creates the stable, good quality jobs, that further enables the investment urgently required right across our public services. What is most pleasing to me is that right here, our location, our natural resources of renewable energy, tin and lithium, and our burgeoning digital sector all mean that we are ideally placed to play a major role in that economic transformation.

It feels a long, long way from Kamala v Donald, but I’m looking forward to getting back to Westminster and continuing to fight the corner for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle.

Perran Moon

Labour MP for Camborne & Redruth