THE leader of the Basingstoke and Deane Independent Group has said the Conservative party ‘must deliver’ on key issues in the town, after they gained a comfortable majority in the borough council elections.

Speaking to the Gazette after re-winning his seat in Norden, Paul Harvey said: “We are so grateful for the residents. It’s a reflection of the hard work we have put in, and the work we are going to put in.

“It’s such a strong community. We need to see our residents continue to get the support they need, we need to see funding come through. We have a lot of things coming in the pipeline, the work never stops.”

Cllr Harvey said he was pleased to see five of the six BDI group candidates get elected, adding: “We are very sorry that David Potter didn’t win. He has been an amazing councillor for 10 years and has so much respect for the community.”

He said it had been a “good election” but emphasised that it was now time to “do the job we want to as councillors” and “deal with the issues facing Basingstoke”.

Speaking about the Conservatives commanding victory, Cllr Harvey added: “The pressure is on now they have this majority.

“What is he [Ken Rhatigan, Conservative council leader] going to do with it? He has to deliver.”

He added that the key to contributing to the opposition will be being “sensible and constructive”.

“We want to say thank you to everybody who voted for us as independent councillors. It was a really good election, a long election. But we thank everybody who supported us. We’ve got a job of work to do now.

Citing key issues for the town, including the ice rink repairs and long-awaited Manydown development, Cllr Harvey added: “There are a lot of issues that are facing our borough and the council has got to step up and deal with them.

“We will be a constructive voice in the council for tackling those issues and supporting our residents.”