'We have a lot of work to do' says Conservative Wiltshire MP after local election disappointments
Wiltshire Council was one of a number of council's the Conservatives lost control of
A Conservative MP in Wiltshire says there's no hiding from a disappointing set of local election results for his party.
Wiltshire Council was one of several local council's the Tories lost control of when voters went to the polls at the start of May, as the Lib Dems became the county's biggest party.
John Glen for Salisbury and South Wiltshire told Greatest Hits Radio: "There's no doubt that it's obviously incredibly disappointing overall."
That's despite only one Tory seat being lost in the Salisbury area, with Reform taking a seat from Labour, and the Conservative share of the vote increasing from the last elections in 2021.
Mr Glen said he felt former Council leader, Richard Clewer, had led a "sound Council with good services", adding that he felt the lost seats were down to "other things".
He said: "People are very angry. They're angry with what our record was in government and they're not yet ready to look at us seriously again.
"What we got to do is examine the elements that people were very disappointed about, such as delivering on immigration, the tax bill going up, we spent so much on COVID, but people were not happy with how that ended and then we've got to apply conservative principles to the solutions."
Mr Glen added that the Conservatives have "a lot of work to do" to regain the trust and confidence of the public.
The former Paymaster General insists he will continue to work alongside cabinet members of Wiltshire Council for the best interests of his constituents.
A new leader of Wiltshire Council will be elected on 20th May at the next Full Council meeting.