Regardless of the result, one of the main things to come out of the Scottish independence referendum was that politics can be sexy. Not the policitians, but the subject.

The reaction to the poll, the desire for debate and to use a vote in a public ballot was incredibly refreshing to watch and had not been seen for decades in Great Britain, where for years the apathy of the country’s electorate has never ceased to surprise.

Later this year the entire UK goes to the polls and politics will receive wall-to-wall coverage from the Shetland Isles to Cornwall.

But will the enthusiasm of the Scottish poll greet the General Election candidates?

According to figures published today, the answer is probably going to be no.

In Hampshire 116,000 are in danger of losing their right to vote by dropping off the electoral register because of a shake-up requiring each individual to sign up rather than one person signing for an entire household.

In Southampton the figure is more than one in five of the electorate, which could be enough to swing decisions one way or another.

Okay, so politics may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the right to vote is a basic one and to give it up so easily by simply not checking the electoral register is nothing more than an insult to all those over the centuries who have fought so hard to keep it.