DEMOCRACY campaigners will seize Parliament Square on May Day for a week of direct action before the general election, protesters announced yesterday.

Occupy Democracy activists have vowed to “step up” their campaign in the run-up to May 7 by setting up a 10-day long “festival of democracy” in Westminster. 

It will follow Leicester’s Jubilee Square occupation, Democracy A&E, which is also running until polling day. Occupy Democracy called for action beyond the ballot box.

“History shows us that the extension of our democratic rights has not been led by politicians, but has been forced onto the agenda by the actions of mass movements such as the Chartists and the Suffragettes,” the group said.

 “We are asking people to join us and help build such a movement.”In Leicester, occupier Daniel Ashman said: “We have chosen Jubilee Square for this demonstration because it epitomises the priorities of the elite versus the needs of communities.

“We have launched Democracy A&E, a space for concerned local residents to discuss how to repair our broken democracy.”

According to campaigners, Leicester Council has spent £4 million on Jubilee Square while funding for day-care centres, homeless shelters and homes has been cut. 

Fellow Occupy Democracy supporter Michaela Smith said: “Democracy is not a spectator sport — politicians do not build communities, people do. 

“As we are in the run-up to the election, now is our time to reclaim this sterile public space as a forum to deliver our priorities to those who seek to represent us.”

The London action is set to commence during the capital’s May Day celebrations and will include a series of debates and workshops on some of the campaign’s key principles.

They will be joined on Parliament Square by Disabled People Against Cuts activists. Co-founder Linda Burnip explained her members will be “supporting the occupation of Parliament Square to highlight the current injustices we as well as others face.

“Disabled people see on a daily basis how corporate greed and corruption impacts negatively on our lives,” she said.