People up and down England voted decisively for Labour values in local elections last Thursday, clearly underlining the fact that the Conservative Party has lost its mandate to govern.

Ten out of the 11 contested regional mayors are now Labour. This includes London, the Midlands and York & North Yorkshire. On top of that, Labour gained control of eight borough and district councils, adding 186 councillors to its ranks. This included Hartlepool where Labour lost a Westminster by-election three years ago. The party also took control of Hyndburn, in east Lancashire, which is widely seen as a “red wall” battleground.

Direct gains from the Conservatives included Nuneaton & Bedworth, which is regarded as an important indicator of the likely overall result in general elections. Labour also took control of Rushmoor in a Conservative heartland covering Farnborough and Aldershot in Hampshire.

Labour also took Adur District Council in coastal West Sussex from the Tories. The corresponding parliamentary constituency of East Worthing and Shoreham has been in Conservative hands since 1997.

And, following a by-election on the same day last week, Blackpool South has a Labour MP for only the second time since the constituency was created for the 1945 general election.

This all points undeniably to the democratic need for a general election. If the trend is to be believed, and from my conversations on the doorstep, I think it is, the residents of Woking are feeling fed up with a government that has been riddled with scandal after scandal. After 14 years of Tory rule marked by chaos, decline and instability, Wokingites are tired of becoming poorer and not richer; of falling further behind and not getting ahead; of surviving and not thriving.

The Labour Party is working hard, in Woking and across the country, to fight for every vote. We do not take anything for granted because we know that a choice for us at the ballot box is a gift, not a guarantee.

But if we are fortunate enough to be given the trust of the British people and to form a government at the next election, a Labour MP in Woking will be able to work closely and collaboratively with a Labour government in finding solutions to the huge financial issues facing our town. Due to debts of £2 billion, key social services have lost their funding and housing projects have been shelved, arts programmes have had to be scaled back and local businesses are under increasing strain.

Our party has promised to give places like Woking their future back. A backbench opposition MP will struggle to effectively represent Woking at the highest level and it i local people who will be impacted.

The people of Woking deserve the chance to choose who governs them sooner rather than later and it seems more than likely that, next time, they will make a different choice.