The upcoming Senedd election on Thursday marks my final newspaper column before voters head to the polls.

Back in 1992, Britain experienced an early April General Election. Unexpectedly, the Conservatives secured an overall majority with John Major as Prime Minister. This outcome shocked many observers since polling data had consistently shown Labour in the lead under Neil Kinnock.

That 1992 General Election represented my first opportunity to participate in a national vote as an 18-year-old just entering adulthood.

Ahead of that election, reporters from the South Wales Argus came to my school and published an exclusive feature exploring the perspectives of young people. I appeared in that piece.

From an early age, political matters have held a genuine interest for me. My core principles have consistently centred on centre-ground liberal conservatism.

Initially, I leant toward the liberal end of the political spectrum, though with the passage of time my perspective has moved toward a more traditional conservative worldview.

During my youth, I was a strong advocate for proportional representation and decentralisation, believing Wales should have its own modest parliamentary assembly. Both of these aspirations have since been realised.

The Welsh Parliament is now set to grow to 96 Members of Senedd, a change implemented without holding a referendum. I strongly object to this expansion. This enlarged body no longer resembles the small Welsh Parliament I once championed.

Only the Welsh Conservatives have committed to shrinking the Senedd back down to 60 Members.

There is a reason for sharing this background.

Your own principles and convictions should matter greatly to you.

It is essential that you thoroughly examine the policies put forward by each political party.

In September 2023, widespread controversy erupted across Wales when our Labour-led Welsh Government introduced 20mph as the default speed limit throughout the country.

By March 2024, no fewer than 469,571 individuals had added their names to a petition opposing the 20mph restrictions. This figure actually exceeded the total number of people who voted for Labour in the preceding election.

Many of those who signed the petition probably supported Labour in the 2021 Senedd election without having carefully read or fully understood the contents of Labour’s manifesto regarding their policy intentions.

In 2021, Welsh Labour released its election manifesto. On page 33, a brief statement outlined their proposal to make 20mph the default speed limit in residential areas and ban pavement parking wherever possible.

This is precisely why it is vital that you study the manifestos from all political parties before marking your choice on May 7.

Voting without this knowledge risks future regret.

Mike Enea is a Conservative campaigner and blogger.