Andy Mitchell from Radio Wave

Ballot boxes are carried into the hall at the Richard Dunn Centre, Bradford, for counting in the 2015 General Election. 7 May 2015. Picture Bruce Rollinson

Tomorrow is Local Election Day. As a discerning reader of this column, you’ll probably already know this. You’ll also know it’s the only way of influencing local government policy. You’ll get to either change what we’ve got, or vote to keep things as they are.

I mention this, not because it’s blindingly obvious, but because we need to get this message out there to a wider public, to those who think they can get what they want in town by posting their point of view on social media.

In these uncertain political days, it’s hard enough to work out what’s national, what’s European, and what matters at the end of the street. We also have the unexpected European Elections, for which you will have already received your ballot card ahead of May 23.

All this, whilst important, isn’t as important at the moment, as tomorrow.

Night after night, the keyboard warriors lock themselves in their bedrooms hammering out their view of the world on social media. The diatribes go on and on, some of it interesting, much of it ill informed. They sign off their essay “rant over”, something they’ve probably picked up from American social media, and think they can effect change. Of course they’re wrong.

On Friday morning, when us journalists pack into the Sports Centre along with all the candidates and the hundreds of thousands of ballot papers to be counted, Facebook rants from middle aged purple faced men won’t be counted.

Those with their opinions, one way or another, need to be mobilised to get out to the polling station tomorrow and vote for two local councillors in their area. Like I say, this isn’t yet another vote about Brexit, this is about how we feel Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde councils are being run, and whether any suggestions we’ve heard from candidates in recent weeks have made us change our minds.

Back to basics stuff you might say. Our army of candidates of all parties have been braving the weather to knock on your door and actually ask you what you’d like. You can help by filling in the ballot paper and let them know.

Results on Friday morning here in the Gazette and on your local stations Radio Wave and BBC Radio Lancashire.