If I may, I’d like to start this week's column with a quote from The Beatles’: "Help, I need somebody, help, not just anybody, help, you know I need someone, help!"

The help I need surrounds the Senedd election because - rather worryingly given how close we are to 7 May - I’m still not sure who to vote for.

As I get older I’m becoming less decisive, and as politics was traditionally a taboo subject, I’ve never really discussed my voting habits with anyone, nor looked to anyone else for inspiration, but social media means there’s so much noise, opinion, and division about parties and candidates now that I cannot think straight, and find myself in a political quandary.

I don’t feel a strong affinity for any party, but I do know who I’d never vote for so that narrows the field down a bit. Personally I’d prefer to vote for experts in health, education, transport, agriculture, etc. Listening to politicians boo each other turns me off and takes me right back to the playground with bullies bullying and popularity contests playing out before my eyes in favour of anything productive being done. It all feels a bit performative...

I also think I’ve lived through enough elections now to feel a bit jaded and that - up to a point – it may not really matter who is in power because all parties promise very similar things and make all the right noises to secure my vote, but inevitably fail to deliver on everything. And actually, how can they? There really is no magic money tree, as Theresa May was once mocked for saying, so I know most of the manifesto promises will be hard to keep.

But I think the reason I’m struggling so much this year is because of changes to the voting system and the constituency I live in.

Previously when voting I’ve been candidate rather than party-led. I’ve really tried to get to know the brave people putting themselves forward, and I do think they’re brave, no matter what party or individual beliefs they represent. I’ve then voted for the person I think is most like me and who, therefore, will represent me and my opinions, wants, and needs the most. I’ve not - perhaps wrongly - studied political parties as a whole very much, but under the D’Hondt system I feel like I have to. I’ve taken a deep dive into what this system means for democracy, and a deeper dive into the parties and candidates. I’m more engaged than ever, which is a good thing, I guess, but I feel overwhelmed.

As the ‘Cambrian News’ recently reported in the article ‘New Senedd voting system poorly understood by public’, there is a lot of confusion about the changes that have been foisted upon us.

The article states that based on survey responses from 10,000 people in Wales, researchers from Aberystwyth and Swansea universities found two-thirds were unable to correctly answer questions about the expansion of the Senedd, the creation of new constituencies and how the electoral system will work. 88 per cent of respondents were either incorrect or did not know about the new closed list electoral system, with just under 12 per cent understanding it.

I understand it now and it makes me feel a bit uneasy… Although I did find some light relief during my research in the form of this joke: “There are two kinds of people in Wales. Those who understand the Senedd electoral system and those who D’Hondt.” Ha! But it is not funny really, is it? And call me Confused from Ceredigion, but I am also perturbed by the incredibly large new constituency I find myself living in because another change to the system means I am no longer voting for someone - sorry, some people - to fight for Ceredigion. No, I now have one single vote instead of two to find representatives for the massive constituency of Ceredigion Penfro... Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire are similar in many ways, but if, once all the votes have been counted, we end up with lots of Pembrokeshire-based MS's representing us in the Senedd, will they join the people of Ceredigion in the fight to save, for example, stroke services at Aberystwyth’s Bronglais Hospital, or any other service up for debate, or will they support moving services further south, closer to them?

On top of all this research and analysis, I watched the Leaders’ Debate on the BBC (cue those playground memories as some of them shouted at each other) and I’ve done the usual for me, and looked at the individuals, but I still don’t know what to do...

Wish me luck making a decision, and good luck to us all. It seems after 27 years of Labour rule, change is coming in Wales. I hope that whatever happens it brings good health, more wealth, better transport, improved education, happiness and more great things for us all.