Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me yesterday to continue to represent East Surrey. I am both humbled and honoured particularly considering the national results.
The election team - from the polling clerks to the dedicated folk at the count - did a brilliant job at making sure everything worked smoothly. It is a remarkable and industrious chain of humans that transforms a freshly inked box into a result for a local representative in a matter of hours.
Huge thank you to my campaign team and to everyone who supported me locally come rain (of which there was quite a lot) and shine. It means a lot to me and I am enormously proud of our team.
Overall the Labour Party have won the right to govern. These are challenging times for the country and I wish them well.
However, it is not the case that people found Labour a better option than in 2019. The result instead reflects that the Conservative Party lost many of our voters.
We must now do everything we can to rebuild that trust. It has been an unprecedented few years for the country, however I do believe there is a majority of people who want to see small c conservative principles and common sense prevail. We must rebuild the party to give those people a strong voice in Parliament. As Keith Joseph said, we must now seek the common ground not the centre ground and we must fulfil our new role as HM Opposition with grace and dedication.
It is an honour to be able to continue to serve the residents of East Surrey. I am very grateful to be given the chance to continue my work locally and to represent this wonderful seat for another term.
