THERE is little doubt that the Conservative Party emerged victorious at last week's elections, both locally and nationally.

The result seemed clear early on Thursday night when the first exit poll predicted success for the Tories, and their night got better, when they ended up with a 12-seat majority.

Here in Basingstoke, Maria Miller secured her third term as the town's MP.

As was clear from the results of our online poll before the election, some had been hoping for a change, but Mrs Miller's 11,063 majority was clear and substantial.

Over in North East Hampshire, Ranil Jayawardena secured a 30,000 majority, making his seat one of the safest in the country, while Kit Malthouse had a clear victory in North West Hampshire.

Locally, the Conservatives regained overall control of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, with notable victories in Chineham and Brighton Hill North.

After weeks of political campaigning, there will be many who are glad that the whole process is finally at an end.

The election period can be quite a gruelling period, dominating the news schedule with politicians trying to be all things to all people.

And for those campaigning, they must be glad that the door-knocking, cold-calling and leaflet dropping is over.

But for the winners, the hard work starts here.

They have been chosen to represent us in the seats of power and to do their best to deliver a bright future for our towns and villages.

The Gazette expects our MPs and councillors to take this responsibility very seriously.