Premier Daniel Andrews deserves to be kicked to the kerb at the November state election for the way he’s treated Victorians for the past two years.

He and his posse of arrogant ministers have used us, abused us and locked us up for longer than anywhere in the world.

But with the Liberal Party unable to hold him to account, or present a persuasive alternative government, Victorians look set for a rightful return to people power beyond the parties.

People are tired of professional politicians who can’t look beyond their own self-interest to govern effectively and are turning towards independents with more to offer than a political background and a party membership.

The Andrews government has used us, abused us and locked us up for longer than anywhere in the world.

It’s telling that two of the seats which may be in doubt at the state election include Andrews’ own seat of Mulgrave, which he has held since 2002, and Bulleen, held by Opposition leader Matthew Guy.

Andrews has already said he won’t be “distracted” by disaffected voters in the west – reeling off a list of spending commitments rather than listening to locals.

It’s no wonder that at the federal election, in Victoria the swing against Labor was seven times the national average – in Mulgrave it was 16.7 per cent.

Six months out from the election and there are already 16 parties registered.

Opposition leader Matthew Guy’s own seat of Bulleen may be in doubt.

One of the most noteworthy is the Victorians Party, which is already speaking out against a wide range of hot-button, commonsense topics. These include issues like anti-car strategies in the city, the spiralling town hall wages bill, name changes to Moreland Council and the garbage crisis in the northern suburbs.

Promising to field candidates in all seats, the party is already campaigning against politicians “who have never had a proper job in the real world”. They are also determined to keep governments out of people’s lives.

The latter is a key issue given the depressing, demoralising and even deadly intrusion of the government into our lives for the past two years.

The party could win as many as 10 seats, although this will depend on it having high-quality candidates.

Bill Lang, Ingrid Maynard and Oscar Yildiz from the recently formed Victorians Party. Picture: Alex Coppel.

No doubt MPs on all sides will spend the next six months warning us that so many independents will be chaotic and unworkable.

But they couldn’t be worse than the mob we’ve got now.

Labor has candidates like Dustin Halse in Ringwood, who has been named as the MP having sex in his parliamentary office, and MP for Burwood Will Fowles, who smashed a door in Canberra over a luggage dispute. The Liberals have Tim Smith, who nearly drove into a kids’ bedroom while dangerously over the limit, although they have just ejected the misogynist Bernie Finn.

If the federal results are anything to go by, Victorians hardest hit by the pandemic – and Andrews’ lockdown – will turn away from Labor in droves.