Just now recovering from a very long day yesterday which continued into the morning with little sleep and ended with a victory pint in the Retreat in town. And that, in a nutshell was election day 2010.

The good folk of Tilehurst turned out to vote yesterday in their thousands which was good to see and the total turnout was 67.5% in our ward. This is about double  the normal turnout for a local election and was due to the general election being held on the same day, always a big draw for voters.

The good news is that Tilehurst Lib Dems once again saw off the blue Tory tide that swept over most of the country. Thanks to the efforts of our committed team of helpers we beat the Tories by 1920 to 1663, a majority of 257, with Labour a distant third. Many thanks to all the electors of Tilehurst who turned out yesterday.

Over the last few weeks I have been struck by the warm reception on the doorsteps and streets of Tilehurst with many people wishing me and the Lib Dems well. This was partly due to the Clegg effect and partly due to the fantastic reputation that the Lib Dems have here in Tilehurst in working for local residents. Long may it continue !

We also had some more good news for the Lib Dems in Reading, where not only has our vote gone up in every ward but we also took a seat off Labour in Katesgrove. Well done to Rebecca Rye and her team. The council now has 19 Labour, 17 Conservatives, 9 Lib Dems and 1 Green councillor so it is still in no overall control and no party has a majority.

Thanks once again to all the helpers and deliverers who have worked so hard for the Lib Dems in Tilehurst and thanks to all the voters of Tilehurst who have re-elected me as their councillor.