Today Bradford is going to the polls, not only to choose who represents various district wards at City Hall, but also to decide on who speaks up for Britain in Europe.

Whatever your political persuasion, it is absolutely vital that as many of us as humanly possible get to the polling booths sometime today. And if you consider yourself to not be a political animal and rarely vote, perhaps today is the day you decide to start.

Because politics – whether we profess an interest or not – determines almost every aspect of our daily lives, from jobs to transport, health to education, policing to regeneration, housing to benefits.

There is nothing that does not affect us in our lives that cannot be affected BY us – by using our vote. Our elected representatives, be they in Bradford or Brussels, are there to speak up for us and steer the shape of our communities in the present and the future as according to our wishes.

Voting should not be considered a chore. Men died on foreign battlefields so that the democracy of our island could be preserved and maintained. Women threw themselves in front of horses to secure the vote for women generations later. Can we do any less than honour their sacrifice by exercising that hard-won right?

Even if you are vehemently opposed to Britain’s membership of the European union, this country still needs its representatives there to ensure that Britain’s voice is heard.

So take a few minutes to pop down to your local polling station today and put an X in a box... it is a simple act that carries with it so much weight.