I don’t know about you, but here at the Gazette it’s been election, election, ELECTION!

And things really got rolling when more than 150 residents packed our Q&A with all the main candidates, organised with the help of Grays parish Church, where it was held.

And it certainly got a little needling between the big three, who in fairness gave decent accounts of themselves.

It showed, I felt, why next week will be such a closely run contest, although I would have preferred it if candidates didn’t keep banging on about their national party’s line and gave us a few more insights into what they personally are all about.

But hey, I guess that’s just politics nowadays.

Nevertheless the event was a real success, although it’s worth noting not many young people were among the audience.

So, here at the Gazette, we decided to carry out a snapshot survey aimed at finding out how many first-time voters were planning to vote.

And our findings of just over 40 per cent were a concern.

In a way voters here are in a privileged position, their vote really could make a difference.

Because we all know there’s no cut and dried candidate and the seat is up for grabs.

So, whether you are in to your politics or not you should get yourself to the ballot box and have your say.

The seat here could be decided by just a handful of votes, make sure yours is in the mix.

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here