It is time for a change of leadership in the Democratic Party in the US

American voters sent a clear message in the midterm elections: They want things to change. They want to pay their bills without worrying every month. They want affordable housing, groceries and healthcare. And they do not want the United States pulled into another war.

That message was aimed at the Republicans, who are in power. But Democrats need to hear it too. If we think winning the midterms means we can go back to business as usual, we may be in for a rude awakening in 2028.

People want results. They want leaders who understand what it means to choose between paying rent and filling a prescription. And if we are serious about changing our policies, we have to be willing to change our leadership.

That is why I believe Senator Chuck Schumer should step aside as the Senate Democratic leader. It is time for veteran Democrats to make space for younger, more energetic members who managed to galvanise the electorate with a message focused on ordinary people and change.

Schumer has spent nearly 50 years in elected office. I respect that service. He knows Washington, and experience matters. But experience cannot be the only qualification. If we keep telling younger Democrats to wait their turn, when exactly does their turn come?

This is not just about age. It is about whether the people who built the party’s old playbook can recognise when that playbook no longer works.

Too often, Democrats have been more comfortable talking about what is possible in Washington than what is necessary in people’s lives. Longstanding ties to major donors and corporate interests can make that problem worse. The influence of groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has also become a point of disagreement within the party, particularly over US policy towards Israel and the wider Middle East. Younger Democrats are asking whose voices get heard when the party sets its priorities.

That does not mean every longtime Democrat is controlled by donors or every young Democrat is a socialist. But the party’s growing progressive and democratic socialist movements are pushing questions that cannot be brushed aside: Why are homes so expensive? Why does healthcare still put families into debt? Why do powerful interests seem to get a hearing before ordinary workers?