Ed Goncalves says thank you to everyone who supported him

Thank you very much for everyone who voted for me and the Liberal Democrats at the General Election here in Rugby, and who also supported our excellent candidates for the Rugby Borough Council elections. It was a great honour to represent the party and a great pleasure to meet so many of you during the campaign.

Most of all, it was truly humbling to receive the support of so many local residents. On what was a very difficult night for the Liberal Democrats across the country, the results here showed that there is strong support for Rugby Liberal Democrats. This is due to the hard work of Rugby's Liberal Democrat Councillors and community campaigners who work all year around for local people.

I am proud of having run a positive campaign calling for the return of services to St Cross, of fighting for more school places, and of trying to ensure that the growth of Rugby is sustainable and properly planned. I am also proud of the many things achieved by the Lib Dems in government over the last 5 years the biggest ever cash rise in state pensions, increases every year in the NHS budget, taking the low paid out of income tax altogether and the massive £2.5 billion for education designed to give all children the best opportunities in life.

Equally, I am proud that we succeeded in stopping some of the Conservatives' most extreme policies, such as the Snoopers' Charter which would give the authorities massive new powers to snoop into every aspect of our lives; allowing employers to be able to fire people at will; and turning schools over to private companies to run for profit.

I am very concerned that the Conservatives now wish to reintroduce these measures at the earliest opportunity. It is already becoming clear that they are looking to make savage cuts in welfare spending in a way which will be devastating for disabled people and their carers. The government's commitment to combatting climate change also looks set to be dramatically watered down and there is a strong prospect of fox hunting being reintroduced.

In my final address of the campaign, I vowed to fight Conservative plans to weaken or privatise the NHS tooth and nail; to fight Conservative plans to undermine or underfund our education system tooth and nail; and to fight Conservative plans to scale back the essential work to protect our environment tooth and nail. I reiterate my promise to the voters of Rugby to take forward this fight, and to do everything in my power to build the fair, safe and sustainable society our children and their children deserve to grow up in.