The right to vote is important, and if you have a vote, you should use it - it's no good complaining about the state of the UK if you didn't bother to try and shape its future. The wife and I will be casting our votes fairly early on May 6th - if it's a nice morning, we'll probably walk to the polling station, which is a 5 minute walk from our house - and I'd urge you all to do the same.

The recent passing of the Digital Economy Act has really annoyed me in this regard. Many of us used our vote at the last general election to put MPs in power that would make sure our voice was heard, but 410 406 MPs - four hundred and ten six - didn't bother using their vote, and didn't bother making the voices of thousands of concerned consitutents heard.

My local MP at the time, James Plaskitt, with whom I had a lengthy email discussion regarding the act, was one of these didn't use his vote. Many of these politicians will spin the fact that they did not vote into a claim that they did not support the bill, but whilst technically not voting against the bill can be classed as not supporting it, in this particular case I disagree.

Because my MP did not vote against the bill, I feel that my voice wasn't heard. So I've emailed him:

Hi James,

I wasn't sure if your parliament.uk email address would still be working, so I've emailed you at jamesplaskitt.com instead.

I've been reading through a lot of communications with the local parliamentary candidates, and I'm still - as yet - undecided as to who I'll be casting my vote for.

Everyone always talks about how important it is for us to use our vote - that if we want to make sure our voice is heard, that we need to use it. I'd say this is one of the most important things about democracy - actually using your vote and ensuring your opinion is counted.

Would you agree?

This is why the past few weeks have disturbed me a little - I've just been reading back through a few emails between us, regarding the Digital Economy Act, and one thing sticks out at me. Despite my email and our conversation, you didn't use your vote in the case of the Digital Economy Act. Not supporting the act and not voting against it are two entirely different things, yet many incumbent MPs have tried to suggest that they are one and the same.

I don't understand the intricacies of party politics - I'm guessing that by not voting, you wouldn't get in trouble with the party; by voting against the bill, perhaps you'd have potentially got into some trouble. Personally, I don't care about party politics or whether my MP gets in trouble with his party for actually acting for his constituents - I'd like an MP who listens to his local people - particularly those who take the time to get in touch - and acts upon their concerns.

One of your door knockers came round to see us last Thursday - and I mentioned that the Digital Economy Act is a point of great concern to me. I want to know what you and the Labour party are going to do about it. It's broken, and it desperately needs repealing and sorting out properly. As far as I can tell, the only party who have publicly pledged to do anything about that is the Liberal Democrats.

I'd love to get your thoughts on why you didn't use your voice... MY voice in parliament.

He's busy on the 27th of April, as are the other parliamentary candidates, so they can't join us at our Multipack event. But I'll let you know what he says if and when he responds.

Correction

I incorrectly suggested that 410 MPs didn't bother voting. It's actually 406, as the boundary changes which have taken place now weren't in place at the time of the Digital Economy Bill vote. It's still an appallingly high number.