YES OR NO

Today you should vote. You will be voting on AV, and perhaps you will be voting in your local election. There are some things that you should remember every time you vote.

These are things that my Grandfather told me when I came of age to vote and they are surprisingly prescient given that this was 1992 and the adult playground called twitter had not been invented. My Grandfather's funeral was the same day as an election, the last thing said at his funeral was, 'before going to the reception, go and vote.' So here are his wise words.

• Don't vote for someone because your friends are or because it is fashionable or a celebrity told you
• Vote for someone because you think it is right
• Don't be bullied into voting one way or another
• A politician shouldn't expect your vote, they should win it
• You are not stupid if you don't understand their politics, they haven't communicated it properly so ask them to explain it more
• Don't vote blindly, find out as much as you can before you vote
• Don't dismiss the alternative view out of hand, listen to it first
• Most important of all, do vote