"Make sure you vote the way your heart tells you and not some misleading tripe you’ve read on social media" - Andy Mitchell

It’s the election nobody really wanted, least of all with two weeks to go until Christmas, but you try telling Westminster types there are more pressing things to be getting on with at the moment.

The one thing that has marked out this campaign from the dozen or so that I’ve covered in my time as a journalist, is the vitriol that the electorate have directed towards candidates of all colours and persuasions.

It begs the question: Who on earth would want to stand for public office of any kind if it resulted in daily barracking, general nastiness and even death threats?

These souls deserve our full support.

Whatever your political persuasion, and I trust you have one, because you care passionately about what you believe would make a better country, I don’t believe anyone gets out of bed in the morning with the intention of causing abject chaos and misery.

Far too many nights are spent by some people typing out misleading rubbish to an audience who then believe everything they read on social media. Couple that with campaigns on all sides to discredit rivals in a way we never imagined 20 years ago, and the result is a toxic atmosphere where everyone hates everyone else and the day is miserable.

Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. We all need to stop and think about the wonderful position we are in. That we can cast our votes tomorrow in a free society is indeed a right, but it is also a privilege.

I’ve said in this column before that ranting on Facebook won’t mean a thing tomorrow when the polls are open, and those who haven’t already cast their postal vote get a chance to put an X next to the name THEY believe will make a difference.

Polling Day, of course, means no reporting of politics at all. Make sure you vote the way your heart tells you and not some misleading tripe you’ve read on social media.

Oh and first one to spot the traditional yarn about how we use pencils at the polling station so “they” can rub out and change who we’ve voted for, wins 50p.

I don’t believe anyone gets out of bed in the morning with the intention of causing abject chaos and misery.