After months of campaigning, hustings, interviews, manifestos, debates and more political leaflets than I care to count, the people of the Isle of Man get to have their say.

I really hope you do.

I have covered this election all the way through. I have sat through hustings, spoken to candidates, reported their policies, listened to their arguments and spent a lot of time thinking about the issues that matter to people across the island.

And if there is one thing I would like to say to people reading this, particularly people around my age, it is simply this:

Please vote.

I have heard people say they do not see the point.

I have heard people say they are ‘not political’.

I understand why some people feel that way. Politics can sometimes seem distant, argumentative or disconnected from everyday life.

But I would argue that much of everyday life is affected by political decisions, whether we think of ourselves as ‘political’ or not.

Take food.

Its quality, safety and affordability are all influenced by decisions made by governments and politicians. The rules businesses operate under, the standards that protect consumers and the cost pressures affecting households do not happen by accident.

Transport is political, too.

On the Isle of Man, decisions about fares, roads, buses, railways, ports and infrastructure affect how easily we can get around our own island, and how connected we are to the rest of the world.

Water is political.

That might sound strange, but on an island it really matters. Decisions about sewage, water infrastructure, marine conservation and environmental regulation can affect public health, our coastline and the wildlife that so many of us care about.

The places we spend our time are shaped by political decisions as well.

Community centres, playing fields, parks and youth facilities rely on decisions about funding, investment and how land is used.

Community facilities do not simply appear. People make decisions about them, money has to be found and priorities have to be set.

Your job is affected by politics, too.

Employment opportunities, taxation, workers' rights, public services and the wider economy all influence our working lives.

Even something as mundane as your phone signal can have a political dimension.

Investment in digital infrastructure and mobile coverage can affect businesses, residents and our ability to stay connected.

You may not spend your evenings reading political manifestos.

You may have absolutely no interest in political arguments on Onchan Residents Facebook Page.

You may not consider yourself a political person.

But that does not mean political decisions do not affect you.

And voting is one of the few opportunities we have to directly have our say about who makes those decisions.

In the last General Election, in 2021, 64,744 people were eligible to vote and 32,812 did so, a turnout of 50.68 percent.

In other words, almost half of those eligible did not cast a ballot.

Turnout was also down from 52.96 per cent in 2016.

I am not writing this to tell you who to vote for.

That is entirely your decision.

As a talking mongoose, my job is to give you information and let you make up your own mind.

And there is plenty of information out there now. Read the manifestos. Watch the debates. Look at what candidates have said about the issues that matter to you. Ask questions. Challenge them. Speak to people you trust.

You do not have to agree with everything a candidate says.

You do not even have to be particularly enthusiastic about any of the choices in front of you.

But I would still urge you to exercise the right that generations of people have fought for and that many people around the world still do not have.

I have spent much of the past few months reporting on this election.

Tomorrow, I will be reporting on the result.

But before I do that, I will be doing something else.

I will be voting.

I hope you will too.