General Election

The rivalry was often fierce and the questioning of one another’s credentials often uncompromising, but there was scarcely any of the unwarranted venom which blighted campaigns in certain other places.

We congratulate those who were elected and send our commiserations to their unsuccessful opponents.

The task facing them all now — not just the winners but any of the losers who choose to remain in politics — is to do everything they can to promote unity in the communities they vied to represent.

Argument and the taking of sides are perfectly healthy during election campaigns, but during the periods in between they can be counterproductive.

Since the economic calamity of 2008, a calamity from which we are really only beginning to recover, a great many people have suffered immensely. Often, the suffering was worst among people least equipped to endure it.

Whatever one’s political affiliation, it cannot be denied that there are people in our communities who struggle to put food on their tables, to keep roofs over their heads and to maintain the basic dignity most people take for granted.

It should now be the mission of all local politicians, whether they are in Parliament, a council chamber or currently hold no elected office, to do everything possible to help those people.

The duty does not just lie with politicians; it should be the business of us all. Yes, there many differences of opinion about how society should be run, but we all have enough basic humanity in common to enable us to co-operate.