Sir – In the hubbub of the recent General Election activities, the very serious issue of electing borough councillors almost got lost.

A record number of votes were cast in the Chineham ward.

Although I received more votes than ever before, this was not sufficient to counter the massive party political onslaught which took place in the frenzy of the General Election.

I should like to thank the electors – in excess of 2,300 – who kindly placed such personal confidence in me.

I will not have always pleased everyone in the past but have endeavoured to serve the interests of the ward and the borough at large without any need for consideration of matters other than those in hand. In public service, a willingness to challenge the edicts of others, where appropriate, is essential but can sometimes be painful.

I remain committed to the interests and integrity of Chineham.

I wish to apologise to any who have written to my council email address in recent times and not received a response.

Unfortunately, my computer link was terminated very rapidly after completion of the count and thus some incomplete work was lost, as well as any new messages.

I can now be reached at contact@MartinBiermann.org.uk.

–Martin Biermann, Reading Road, Chineham, Basingstoke.