IT has been a pretty remarkable few days for politics, with UKIP delivering the political earthquake they promised.

In Wyre Forest, they took 26 per cent of the vote on the district council, increasing to 36 per cent in the Euro vote as some local residents who had voted for Health Concern gave their vote to UKIP.

Inevitably, we have seen the “we’ve listened, we’ve learnt” interviews from senior politicians. But depressingly, that was what they all said last year. And the year before.

This, I suspect, was not so much about Europe, or immigration, but about politics. A poll taken over the weekend told us that UKIP supporters had a wide range of worries. A third of them had not voted at the last general election - a fifth had not voted for 20 years! Two thirds said they voted UKIP because they wanted to send a message to all political parties.

So I suspect that this weekend’s results were about a vote between politics and anti-politics. And not just in the UK, but across the whole of the EU. But who actually won the election? Apathy. With the turnout at around 30 per cent, nearly seven out of every 10 people couldn’t be bothered to vote.

But at the heart of politics is a huge number of councillors, MPs, MEPs working hard to make a difference to people’s lives. A number of councillors, of all parties, have lost their seats on Wyre Forest District Council and I know them well. All have been hard-working individuals and entered the political arena not for any power kick, or self-aggrandisement, but simply to serve the communities they feel passionately about. They have worked their socks off to make a difference, some in particularly troubled parts of the district. The electorate has spoken and in a number of wards there are new councillors. As the local MP I have always made it my work to help all councillors of any political colour - after all, there is only one MP and I have met with councillors of all parties seeking assistance.

Politics can be brutal, so to those councillors who have lost their seats I send them condolences for being caught up in a wider battle and thanks for the incredible hard work they have done. And for the new, I wish good luck and a promise that I will always be available if needed.

CONTACT YOUR MP 

  • Email: mark.garnier.mp@parliament.uk 
  • Telephone: 020 7219 7198 or 01562 746771 n
  • Write: 9a Lower Mill Street, Kidderminster, DY11 6UU, or House of Commons, Westminster, London