This week Copeland delivered another successful election and returned Trudy Harrison to parliament.

I would like to thank my managing director and acting returning officer Pat

Graham and her team, especially elections manager Stephanie Shaw, for the professional running of the election. It went like clockwork.

I want to congratulate the four candidates for the positive campaigns they ran, and I look forward now to working with Trudy Harrison in determining a better future for Copeland.

Now the dust has settled on three elections in quick succession, our agenda remains the same and I’m looking to focus firmly on the borough’s priorities.

Amid the media speculation about the Moorside power station, we need a firm commitment from the government that it will do all it can to ensure this crucial project goes ahead.

In terms of job creation – alongside potential infrastructure and facility

upgrades - this project will be transformational for Copeland and I’ll be working hard with Trudy and NuGen to ensure it is delivered.

I also watch with interest how the government intends to tackle the thorny

issue of nuclear waste now the election is over.

It’s widely believed the powers-that- be will bring a search for the long-term disposal of radioactive waste back to the table, and it will always be an issue that has a major impact on us locally.

Elsewhere, I’ll be continuing to press the case for Copeland’s inclusion in the Business Rates Pilot Scheme. It could be put millions back into the coffers of this area, and I’ll look to Trudy to stand alongside me in campaigning for improved schools and infrastructure, and for services to be retained at the West Cumberland Hospital.

We need a clear focus from the government in terms of devolution, its

industrial strategy and how we in Copeland can play our part in the Northern Powerhouse. Interesting times ahead.

I’d like to offer a warm welcome to Ged McGrath, who I’m sure will do a fine job for Millom’s Newtown Ward on Copeland Council. It’s tinged with sadness because the by-election was prompted by the death of Ray Cole, but I have every confidence that Ged will have the best interests of Millom and Copeland at heart, as Ray certainly did.

I have to finish by touching on the tragic events that unfolded in Manchester and London recently, coming so close to the June 2 anniversary of a tragedy that devastated our own community. In Copeland we know only too well how the worst of humankind can bring out the best in human kindness and solidarity.

My heart goes out to everyone touched by these tragedies. At the same time, credit goes to the police and emergency services, including here in Cumbria and at Sellafield, who have supported communities in the atmosphere of raised security that followed these atrocities.