Community first for our local MPs

IT HAS been an extraordinary election by anyone’s standards.

Not since 1974 have we had such a divisive result. The hung parliament has meant a nail-biting few days and some disappointed faces.

Three of our four seats have stayed blue, but for one, Reading East, we have seen Labour succeed with a swing of 16%. It is quite something.

All four of our MPs have been elected with convincing majorities. The people have clearly backed them, now it’s time for the MPs to return the favour.

To be a good constituency MP you need to clearly listen to the electorate, not the voices that you like the best.

You have to eschew putting your pet hobby horses first. Those second jobs, while tempting, should be resisted if it means that your constituents miss out.

You must ensure that you turn up at local events –cutting the ribbons to open those fetes, wiping the noses of snotty schoolchildren and kissing those babies.

Of all the national results on Thursday night, the one in Canterbury stands as a salutatory lesson. For years, one of the safest Conservative seats in the country, the electorate’s anger towards an MP they felt was complacent and out of touch meant that they voted in a Labour MP.

It is unheard of. But with Labour’s share of the vote rising in the Wokingham seat, the result could be replicated here too.

There is no such thing as a safe seat. Work for it and never take your electorate for granted – or you could find the swing going against you.