The row over MPs' expenses and the role of the Commons Speaker has led to widespread sentiment that an entire political class has been discredited. There is now a growing recognition that no return to 'business as usual' in Westminster is possible: the machinery of representative democracy, legislature and the executive is dysfunctional and ripe for reform.

Public dissatisfaction with politics and politicians has never been greater in modern times: a national debate is needed on what must change. Columnists and commentators from the Guardian and Observer make their suggestions, but in keeping with the new spirit of the age, this is about creating an open forum: join the conversation on political renewal