Elections Reflections

I've been on holiday in Suffolk over the weekend, and I've had time to gather my thoughts about last weeks elections.

Lows

1. Having my car broken into and my sat nav nicked while I was leafleting. (For the record, it wasn't on display and there were no suction marks on the windscreen). On the plus side, the police officer who attended was very professional.

2. Getting two parking tickets while I was leafleting. I got one of them despite texting the new service you can use instead of pay-and-display, because the replacement car I was driving (see 1) had a different registration number than the one they had on record for me. Particularly annoying.

3. Waiting for hours for someone to deliver 67 postal votes to be included in the count. This meant that we didn't get a result until far later than usual.

4. Losing our outright majority in Solihull, but I'm sure we'll get it back next time.

Highs

1. All the people who helped me in so many different ways, be it leafleting, advice or just being there. You know who you are. Thanks.

2. Those 732 pieces of paper that showed that 732 people had taken the time and trouble to write an 'x' next to my name. If I knew who all of you were, I'd come round and thank you personally.

3. Our three gains in Birmingham. Very many congratulations to Barbara Wood in Kings Norton, Colin Hughes in Billesley and in particular to my friend Gareth Compton in Erdington, who trounced Susanna McCorry on a huge swing to the Conservatives.

4. Albert Bore going out of his way to compliment my campaign in his re-election speech. Always good to receive compliments from your political opponents.

5. Being attacked (in all but name) in at least one of Labour's leaflets. You know they're getting scared when they do that!

6. Seeing Labour run around Ladywood leafleting like crazy to try and counter my active campaign. The amount of effort they put in was evinced by the number of Labour activists at the count. This must have hampered their ability to operate in Birmingham's more marginal wards.

7. In the early hours of Friday morning, finding out that John Lamont had become a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Roxburgh and Berwickshire. I met John at the Conservative Party Conference last year, and I know how hard he's been working.

8. Looking at the BBC website (above) and seeing that we've gained 898 Conservative Councillors and 38 Conservative Councils in England.

I've thoroughly enjoyed being the candidate for Ladywood and I'll carry on trying to serve the people of Birmingham in whatever way I can. And as I said in my speech at last week's count, I'll always be proud to call myself a Conservative.