Last week’s local elections were hard for West Berkshire Conservatives.

We lost many good councillors, but I was pleased that the Conservatives kept control of West Berkshire Council.

I congratulate all candidates who stood in these elections and all the councillors who were elected.

I will continue to work with all of them regardless of their political affiliation.

I am fiercely proud of the work done by Conservative councillors in recent years.

West Berkshire Council has been rated as the best council in the UK for the provision of social care, 95 per cent of our schools are rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' by Ofsted, great work has been done to protect homes from flooding and we are in the top 25 per cent of councils for recycling.

This was undoubtedly a factor in the Conservatives still enjoying a majority on the council.

But I accept that national issues also hold sway in local elections and it was clear from many conversations on doorsteps that a general dissatisfaction with Parliament’s seeming inability to secure a Brexit deal meant that many Conservative voters were going to stay at home while others were going to find parties with whom they could express a protest vote.

Since the elections I have received letters and emails saying that these elections mean we must stop Brexit and others saying we must redouble our efforts to deliver Brexit.

Some say they want to see a change of Prime Minister and others that I should continue to give my support to allow her to deliver a deal before her already announced departure.

I remain of the view that we must leave the European Union in an orderly manner.

I have supported the withdrawal agreement and regret that we were not able to leave on March 29 as planned.

If we had, we would have been able to spend more time in these elections talking about local issues.

I will reflect on the results of these elections and will continue to work with people across Parliament to try to secure a sensible deal that reflects the result of the referendum, but which starts the process of bring our country back together.

On this key issue of our time, Parliament is no different to the country; it is split down the middle.

We need to find degrees of compromise that have hitherto eluded us.

There is a way forward and Parliament must raise its game to reflect the mood in the country.