Just a quick post to say thanks to all those who supported me one way or another at the County elections.

From basically a standing start when I was selected in February we’ve been able to get around most of the town, talk to people and start a dialogue which I hope will continue over the coming years. We’ve had supporters out helping deliver leaflets and knocking on doors, with a real sense of optimism which has been lacking in the past few elections.

We also kept up the work during the Telegraph’s MP’s expenses onslaught. The reaction on the doorstep changed from broadly positive to broadly negative, combative and angry. It was clear that a lot of support was moving over towards UKIP or simply choosing not to vote.

It is extremely pleasing that we increased our share of the vote compared to last year’s elections in Scott and Knowsley. I honestly expected us to see a drop in support around the same as the Tories, but that didn’t happen.

I think it’s because we didn’t take the electorate for granted. We listened and tried to respond to what we were hearing on the doorstep.

We must have done something right because in the days before the election, I had people stopping me in the street wishing me good luck for Thursday.

Many people are worried about the declining state of the town, the knock-on effects of the University’s growth and the increase in traffic. These are problems that will not go away. In particular the state of the town and managing the University’s impact have come about while Conservatives have been in control of the Council. These won’t improve without some serious changes.

Standing this year was always going to be difficult, but thanks to a brilliant bunch of volunteers we bucked the trend, held our own and created a great platform to move forward in Ormskirk.