America's next presidential election is crucial for the future of the West

There is no sugar-coating for those of us proudly in the red corner (in US terms): the midterm results were deeply disappointing.

This week I happened to be in Florida, so I was delighted the Sunshine State has remained firmly in Republican hands.

This achievement was in no small part due to the brilliant base that has been built up by Governor Ron DeSantis on the back of the many successful policy initiatives he has pursued.

But across the country, we have seen good incumbent Republican governors, senators and congressmen swept from office.

Of course, the midterms generally go badly for the governing party.

I well remember the boot being on the other foot in 1994 and 2014 when the Republicans won control of both chambers of Congress during the respective presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Whoever is in office in the White House has a record which opponents will jump on for elections at whatever level – just as in the UK, earnest councillors often get kicked out of office at local elections due to the national political picture, rather than as a result of their handling of municipal matters in their town or city.

In that respect, the results last night were a salutary reminder that we should never assume the electorate will be grateful for what politicians have achieved in office.

Mr Trump has delivered massive economic growth for the US, of which we in the UK should rightly be envious, yet precious few back home are looking at how he has done it and how we could replicate it.

He has fixed the US's border problems and asserted American energy dominance in an uncertain world where ensuring domestic energy security should be one of any administration’s top priorities.

And he has, of course, also taken on "the swamp" – the globalist orthodoxy populating Washington DC which has for too long been able to assert too much unchecked power.

Again, this should serve as inspiration for those on the right in the UK.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS 

• US midterm results present opportunities for Britain, but Burnham and Labour are too feeble to take them.
• The midterms are a warning to Trump, but the UK should not expect his agenda to change
• Democrats win both the Senate and House as blue tsunami crushes Donald Trump's Republicans

Of course, the American electorate has used its voice to punish the Republicans for the price of gasoline – currently averaging $4.15 per gallon – which has hit an historic high partly due to events in Iran.

But I would maintain that seeking to neutralise the threats posed by the regime in Tehran remains the right thing to be doing.

And $4.15 per gallon equates to just 82p per litre, literally less than half the price we are paying in Britain – if only!

However, that punishment meted out to Republican candidates last night also creates various causes for concern as to what lays ahead.

Texas has been booming under Governor Greg Abbott, who attracted lots of the tech crew to the state.

Yet it has now voted in a Democrat, which certainly raises worries for the future of the sector which needs American AI and SpaceX to succeed.

Meanwhile in Michigan we saw the election to the Senate of the radical Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, which suggests, just as in the UK, the hard left are on march, with their woke ideology, their DEI agenda and their Islamo-communist tendencies.

Do not underestimate the threat that his ilk poses to the future of America.

And a chunk of Generation Z has been radicalised in a dangerous leftwards direction by TikTok and the influencers on that platform.

Those of us on the right need to give serious consideration as to how to counter this.