I congratulate my opponent on his re-election to Adur District Council as the representative for St Mary's ward, Shoreham.

I also thank the 99 residents who voted for me, which was a magnificent response.

A turnout of 45 per cent in the ward was the highest by far anywhere in Adur and perhaps reflected the amount of work put in by both candidates.

The contest attracted a good deal of publicity as my opponent was the high-profile leader of the council's socialist group and started with a massive majority from his election in 1999.

It may not be widely known that the contest marked the end of the road for the tiny St Mary's ward as we know it.

In next year's elections, the ward will be substantially enlarged by taking in areas north of the railway line and will return two councillors instead of one.

At the same time, the council overall will be reduced from 39 to 29 members and the outcome in the new St Mary's ward may again be interesting.

As for this time, we increased our vote by 15 and reduced our opponent's by 23 against a prediction that he would greatly increase his majority.

I will resist the temptation to go into the high percentage of "swing" this represents.

-Harry Treadwell, Conservative candidate, St Mary's ward, Shoreham