It has been a pretty remarkable few days for politics, with UKIP delivering the political earthquake they promised. Here in Wyre Forest they took 26% of the vote on the district council, increasing that to 36% of the Euro vote as some local residents who had voted for Health concerned gave their Euro 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%, nearly 7 out of every ten 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 lives. A number of councillors, of all parties, have lost their seats on Wyre Forest District Council and I know them all well. All have been hard working individuals and all have gone into the political arena not for any power kick, or self-aggrandisement, but simply to serve the communities they feel passionately about. They have all 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. And I will do the same with the newly elected councillors if they need any help.
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.