JOHN Glen says the time has come to invest in "higher quality" jobs following his re-election as Salisbury MP.

In an interview with the Journal, he said he would be working to keep the Public Health England facility at Porton Down, which is under threat of being moved to Harlow.

He said: "My priorities will be more of the same, which is to secure investment for higher quality jobs and that means working to preserve the Public Health England jobs at Porton, get the science park up and running and try and work out how to resolve the aftermath of the Salisbury Vision.

"We need an integrated plan for Salisbury, and Wiltshire Council has done a lot of work on that, but I see my role as trying to push that along.

"I sense that people are frustrated with a disconnect between Trowbridge and Salisbury, I see no prospect of restructuring local government so my imperative is to make Wiltshire be seen to work more effectively for the community locally, and to assist in the delivery of those projects."

Despite the fact the Liberal Democrats had one of the toughest nights in their history, Mr Glen expects them to bounce back. He put down his victory to "hard work" and an incumbency boost.

He added: "I expected to hold my share of the vote but I feared I would lose some to Ukip. The last meeting in my office was with Tom Corbin, Peter Edge the Lib Dem councillor, and representatives from all parties on transport infrastructure.

"As the member of parliament I believe that it is my task to do the best for Salisbury and anyone who can deliver the best of outcomes for Salisbury I will work with.

"I don't write anybody off and clearly the Liberal Democrats have been a very powerful campaigning machine and who knows what the future holds."

With the Conservatives forming a majority, Mr Glen now has the prospect of an EU referendum to vote on, but he refused to speculate on which way he will vote.

"My instincts are the reforms will have to be significant," he continued.

"I would be very reluctant to vote to pull out of Europe but I don't rule it out. My instincts are we have to be at the heart of Europe but we do need to address the real concerns around the way immigration works and way that benefits happen and the way we appear not to have a fair deal from Europe.

"But I am not inclined to do it alone."