AS a couple of towns in the North-East prepare for mayoral elections, the experiences of France can teach us a valuable lesson.

Abstention is no longer an option. It can no longer be described as a valid way of letting the political parties know how disillusioned you are with them.

Jean-Marie Le Pen's vote has hardly altered from 1995. He got a little over four million votes then and he was regarded as an extreme outsider. But, in 2002, his 4.8 million votes have given him a second place finish. It is the 50 per cent who either stayed at home or abstained who have given him this position. By not voting, they effectively voted for him.

And so we come to Hartlepool. There has been growing concern in the town in the last few weeks that little interest is being shown in the mayoral election. The feeling is that turnout will be low. The worry is that H'Angus the Monkey will do a Le Pen and, because of apathy, will sneak into a surprisingly high finish.

Like France has a presidential candidate it doesn't want, so Hartlepool could end up with a mayor in a monkey suit.

Of course, if this statement is considered unfair to H'Angus because he has some policies of merit, then people should not allow him to sneak into office through apathy - they should go out and give him a whopping mandate.

It is up to politicians to engage with the electorate. In France, M Chirac was so tainted that many didn't bother with him and Lionel Jospin's campaign was so flat that even fewer listened to him.

But in Middlesbrough, there is every indication that turnout will be moderately high. Certainly people are talking - even at Saturday's football match - about the election and the candidates. This is because Ray Mallon, for all of his faults, has been so vigorously engaging with the public he has appeared in a frenzy. He has dragged Labour with him, to make sure he doesn't have it all his own way at innumerable public meetings.

But it is not just the politicians' responsibility. Messes like the Mittal affair and the Hindujas' passports make it difficult to defend politicians, but people must also try to engage with their politicians. Cynicism is very, very easy.

Apathy is even easier. But, as the French elections show, it is also very dangerous.