THE dust has now settled after last week’s local council elections and a large number of new and returning councillors are getting down to the serious business of representing the electorate at city and unitary levels.

It has largely been a good-spirited campaign but I believe that those who will go on to serve their wards most effectively are those who adopt the old adage that politics stops at the water’s edge.

I know that many still find it challenging to accept both the physical and perceived policy distance between them and Wiltshire’s unitary council.

For example, they find it hard to believe that, mile for mile, Salisbury receives the highest spend on road maintenance in the county.

I hope that, whatever their political colours, the new team will be united in one common aim – to be a strong and united voice for the interests of Salisbury and south Wiltshire in all aspects of decision-making.

It is particularly pleasing to me to see so many new faces on the city council, bringing a vast range of experience and a deep knowledge of what makes Salisbury tick.

The local electorate has also expressed a widespread concern about our relationship with Europe as well as some unnecessarily provocative national policies, concerns I share with constituents and have consistently expressed to government ministers over the past three years.

Although it is important that the message is understood and responded to by party leaders in Westminster, the underlying priorities of most voters, if my postbag is anything to go by, remain the state of the economy, delivery of fair and effective welfare reform and improvements in public services.

On these matters the Government’s determination to deliver must continue.

I enjoyed the opportunity to visit Salisbury’s health fair in the Guildhall on Saturday – a useful showcase of the work of medical and health professionals, volunteers and businesses – all striving to keep local people fit and healthy.