Take a moment and imagine at the next General Election, the closing polls come in.

That ping comes through on your phone, the announcement comes up on the TV, the person next to you turns and says “Reform is winning….the exit polls look like tomorrow we’ll have Nigel Farage as our Prime Minister…”.

Then, over the next few years a Reform government takes away the rights and freedoms of millions up and down our country in a toxic wave of populism.

We know sadly the polls show this is very possible but we know it’s not inevitable.

This is the fight of our lives, this is the fight for Britain’s soul. That fight has already started with getting more councillors and representatives elected across the UK from the local government to the Senedd and Holyrood. To push back on the ugly wave of populism, to elect Lib Dems who care for and stand up for communities. To show them a different, hopeful type of politics.

We are the only ones who can fight Reform. Indeed at this moment in history, we’re the most important party pushing against populism. We’re four times more likely than Labour to beat Reform, and the Conservatives have only lost.

We are here to fight against populism. To fight for liberal values.

That’s what we’re up against and I firmly believe that the Vice President has a vital role in that fight.

I thought long and hard about standing for Vice President. Am I the right person? What value could I add? How can I make sure we make a real difference this time around? The moment I finally decided to go for it was getting the backing of Lib Dems for Race Equality, the Chair of the Racial Diversity Campaign (LDCRE) and the Chinese, East and South East Asian Lib Dems (CESEA). These are groups who have been fighting to improve representation for years and saw that we needed someone with the experience and clout to finally get leadership to listen and shift the dial.

It’s an honour to be on the green benches 50 years after my mum arrived in this country from Malaysia – but it was in no way pre-destined. Growing up there were times when we had to stock up on broken biscuits, my parents worried about keeping a roof over our heads and we were no stranger to the emergency gas credit. My parents worked so hard to support me but times were not always easy.

Fast forward several years, like many candidates from under-represented backgrounds, I was also not expected to win my selection for Harpenden & Berkhamsted. I was the underdog who battled through the system to win the seat  – going on to get the highest turnout in the country and a mandate of over 50%.

I did that with the help of so many people and organisations from CESEA, to the Campaign for Gender Balance and the Stellar Programme (for diverse candidates), now run by RDC. I’ve seen what works, and what doesn’t. I’ve faced roadblocks and challenges I want to break down. From helping candidates to campaigners – we must improve representation from a range of backgrounds including varying social, economic, ages, abilities, genders and beyond.

I’m not a Westminster insider, but I went from delivering leaflets to being an MP. I burst the Westminster bubble to be the first person like me on the Lib Dem green benches, going on to be the 656th female MP ever elected and our party’s first MP of East and South East Asian origin – joining others like Josh Babarinde as Lib Dems’ first Black MP. A start but quite frankly, we must do better! We’re woefully behind even the Conservatives when it comes to diverse representation.

And isn’t the point? Isn’t that the mandate of the VP? To help get more Lib Dems elected from underrepresented communities from  our local execs, to council to Westminster by bursting that electoral bubble. To know that journey and help others.

To support our current and future candidates.  To grow our party as the political force needed to give back hope to millions.

To do that, we don’t have a moment to lose, the fight for the next wave of elections, the work to choose our candidates for the next general election has already started.

I have the experience, the clout and the plan to kick off the VP role tomorrow. Waiting any longer is already too late.

* Victoria Collins is MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted and a candidate for Vice President