The Conservatives had a good result at the local elections. Bearing in mind the tough economic climate and the difficult spending decisions that have been made, we gained two seats - including Geoff Herbert's nail-biting victoty in Claygate, with a majority of 3 votes (it was just 1 after the first count)! Congratulations to all those who won election, and the Association for its tenacious campaign - we had higher turnout than was expected.

I was particularly delighted to see so many new faces getting involved, including candidates who didn't quite make it this time, but put in a tremendous amount of hard-work - like Steve Bax, PJ Warren, Lewis Brown and Jake Delaney. Well done - you did us proud.

At the same time, Elmbridge joined the country in delivering a resounding NO to AV. In fact, Elmbridge voted 'no' by 73%, higher than the 68% nationwide average.

Thank you to everyone fowho supported us during these important elections. Now, back to the serious business of driving economic growth, and delivering on the coalition's reform agenda.