People have been asking me which way they should vote in the AV referendum. People in Slough are probably more interested in the council election than the voting system, but this is a chance to vote in a referendum which could change our constitution.  I did it once before: my first ever vote was in the last UK referendum on whether we should stay in the European Union. In that vote I followed my father's lead, because I did not know enough about the issues. I would vote differently now that I know his prediction that chocolate cakes would be pink and kippers grey if we stayed in didn't turn out to be true.

Lots of people I have spoken to about this referendum feel as confused as I was then. Parliament made such a mess of the legislation there just has not been much time for people to learn about the significance of any vote they may make. The pamphlet which the Electoral Commission has delivered doesn't help much more than the strident campaigns run by the pro and anti AV camps. 

I am pro AV because I think it puts more power into the hands of the voters and it doesn't herd voters into the biggest parties when they would really like to support some other group which they think has no chance at the moment. But there are people in the same party as me who are against, and the two sides of the coalition government take absolutely opposite sides on this one.

So when you vote on May 5th you should feel free to vote for a council candidate who you disagree with about the AV system. I won't use this column to set out the case for AV, but it is perfectly fair for me to set out the case for using your vote.  My anxiety is that because there has not been much time for people to find out about what the new system will mean they are less likely to vote. If few people vote, whatever the result it will be challenged by people who disagree, and voting is the way in which ordinary people change the future of the country they live in. In North Africa and the Middle East at the moment thousands of ordinary people are risking their lives to demand democracy. We have it, so we should use it.