You have to be in it to win, vote May 5

Thursday May 5, 2016, the electorate in some parts of the UK goes to the polls for local and Police Commissioner elections. That is some people will go to the polls but many more will not bother. Talk to people as you go about your daily business and you may be told, "I will not vote because”:

• Politicians and political parties are all the same
• I can't be bothered
• Politics does not concern me
• Nothing will change
• I do not like my local representative, party leader or MP.

Or any number of similar negative statements.

The public performances of certain politicians and so much negative news of sleaze and corruption has done its work.

The majority of people in the UK could not care less who is governing the country and especially their local city hall. In some cases it is not so much that they don't care who but that they view all our politicians in the same light.

Personally this blogger always votes, be it sometimes simply for the lesser of the evils, and here is why.

Politics concerns us all. It affects our Internet freedoms or lack of them. It decides whether or not the country will go to war. It manages the UK economy which if mismanaged can cost us all an arm and leg due to high energy costs, fuel and grocery prices, rents and local public service funding or lack of it. It sets the level of taxation and what benefits revenue may or may not provide.

It affects us ALL.

And never underestimate the importance of local elections.

If you are jaded or worn down with cynicism you may believe that politicians will simply feather their own nests and you will struggle no matter who we elect.

That is not true though.

It is however one reason why we have a widely hated Tory government with a small majority in the Commons running the country and some would say running the country into the ground.

Some politicians will always have more of a tendency to help those in need than others.

Right now it is important to send a message to our politicians that we have had enough of their nonsense. It is time for them to behave like statesmen and women rather than squabbling schoolchildren.

This blogger also holds the probably outdated view that as a woman people fought for her to have the right to vote. It was not given to women as a right but rather fought for.

But look back even further and that is true for working class men also.

Perhaps the single most important reason to vote now though is to send the Tory party a message; a message that we the people have had enough of the false flag of austerity to pay the deficit down.

How you vote locally will affect local services but also send Westminster a message; if enough people bother to vote that could be a message of no confidence.

Another reason to vote also has to be to stop an extremist party gaining a foothold in the UK.

Apathy may be rife in the UK but not amongst those who support any extremist party.

Fringe parties can all too soon become accepted mainstream political parties. When the going gets tough such people tend to increase their popularity. They offer what they think the people want to hear. By the time you realise how bad they are, it is too late.

Voting has never been easier than it is in the UK right now. Most polling stations are situated close to where you live. Postal voting is another option readily available.

Monday April 18 is the cut-off date for registering to vote in the May elections; you have until June 7 to register if you want to vote in the June EU referendum.

Remember you have to be in it to win it.

The effort will be minimal but believe it or not some will simply not vote, "because it was raining"

Make sure you use your vote and use it wisely.

The Week