Dear Sir,

This is a gut-check. A breaking point. How many more broken promises will we stomach before we rise?

The system is broken. Politicians? Often complicit. Voters? Sometimes disillusioned. The whole machine? Rusted from neglect, fuelled by empty speeches.

Should we question the politicians? The system? The people who keep voting for them? Yes, all of it.

What would it look like to see someone truly fighting to fix it? Not a smooth talker. Not a seat chaser. Someone who shows up and stands up for Bermuda.

This island is more than pink sand and pretty postcards. Bermuda is its people. Strong. Warm. Resilient. We have always looked out for each other, but now we are asking: who is looking out for us?

We need leaders who serve the people, not parties. Those who do not vanish until election year. Those who show up in schools, parishes and daily struggles. Those who listen when no cameras are rolling.

We need leadership that fights for the young Bermudian unsure about their future. For the mother choosing between groceries and electricity. For the senior left behind after a lifetime of work. For the working-class family drowning in rising costs while being told to be patient.

Hope over hollow promises. Unity over division. Service over performance.

And, yes, race is still weaponised in our politics. Divide. Distract. Blur the truth. It is tired, manipulative, and it insults our intelligence.

We are not uninformed. We are not asleep. We are not driven by fear. We are moved by purpose.

It is time to restore trust. To fix what is broken. To chart our course and not be carried away by the current.

Bermuda is calling.

Who will rise to answer?

LLOYD S. TELFORD

Leesburg, Virginia