POLITICS is everywhere right now and depending on your point of view, that is either a good thing or a bad thing.

I have always been a political blood hound, eager to sniff out the twists, turns and u-turns of our politicians and their politicking, but I appreciate that not everyone feels the same.

Over the years there have been scandals and broken promises and I know lots of people that seem thoroughly turned off by the whole thing.

My bugbear is the inability displayed by some politicians to answer a direct question with a direct answer.

I find it patronising and infuriating and completely get that, when this happens, it can leave you wondering: what is the point in watching, listening or reading?

I do always find it curious how impassioned people get about issues.

It feels like there are always things to discuss in education; in house building and planning; in health; in crime; in roads and infrastructure; with regards the environment and so on.

Love it or loathe it, politics plays a part in all of our lives, from setting salaries to the rules of the road and very much more besides, and that is why I have always been an impassioned implorer of people to vote.

Voting is not the only way that you can participate and it is not the only way to have your say, but it is a fundamental cog in our current system, and to not use it feels a shame.

People have campaigned for the right to vote and some have died in the struggle for suffrage.

The Chartists in Victorian Britain called for the right to vote for men over the age of 21 and no property qualification for Members of Parliament, among other things, and more than twenty people died in Newport during a violent clash between protestors and the authorities.

Emily Wilding Davidson, a campaigner for women’s suffrage died at the Epsom Derby in 1913, and many other women suffered the agonies of force-feeding and the Cat and Mouse Act.

While I don’t think for a second that we should be bogged down by the weight of history, or beholden to the actions of people several generations before us, I do think it starts to crystallise the importance of expressing your opinion through a vote, when you empathise with the lengths that people went to that didn’t have it.

The deadline to register to vote in this year’s General Election is 11:59pm on Tuesday, November 26.

I mentioned it to my nephew just last week.

It’ll be his first time voting and I am excited for him that he is taking an important step on the journey of being an active adult, participating in the life and direction of this country.

It is for you and your conscience what you do with your X, but I urge and encourage you to do something with it.