Let no-one doubt the result of the General Election is a massive success for the Conservative Party. 

For those thousands of us who delivered leaflets, met voters on their doorsteps and across every community in the land, the result is an undoubted triumph. Together we have all achieved the greatest swing to the Conservatives and the largest increase in Tory seats in eighty years.

To all those volunteers who have put their lives on hold to campaign to achieve this result, thank you. You’ve all been magnificent, and as President of the National Conservative Convention I’ve been so inspired and impressed by your huge commitment and achievement.

Of course we hoped for more. But we achieved the largest positive swing to the Conservatives in living memory, and have brought an almost entirely new complexion to the Conservative benches in the House of Commons.

Great results from Cornwall to Stockton, and from Carlisle to Dover make David Cameron the only political leader with a genuine mandate from the whole Nation to lead the change Britain so badly needs. But without a complete majority we Conservatives have to be prepared to listen to ideas from others both on policy and on our broken political society.

That means being open to new ideas on reform of the electoral process; that will be popular and viewed as right across the whole country. It may mean working to succeed in a progressive partnership with the Liberals, and that will be popular in the country too. But a progressive alliance will enable us to deliver a Conservative platform of government to begin to transform Britain away from the control-freakery and fiscal incompetence of Labour government.

Over the past five weeks I’ve campaigned in every region of England and across 26 target seats most of which we won last Thursday. On the doorstep the issues that voters were most concerned by rang loud and clear: voters are gravely concerned by the fragile state of the economy, and they are worried by the influx of people from beyond our shores with almost no control. And voters made it very clear that they have been very disappointed by politics and political leaders.

So now we have a new parliament and a chance for a fresh start. On the Conservative benches the majority of MPs are of the new intake unmired by the expenses scandal of the last parliament. The responsibility that they bear to renew trust in politics is critical in our new Big Society, and it is critical in building a nation that is at ease with itself.

But its also critical to deliver our manifesto that has been actively voted for by more voters than has any other political platform. Had Labour achieved our share of the popular vote they would have a majority in the House of Commons of 60 seats. So, we must deliver a new politics, work to secure the economy, and transform our whole nation by a new Big Society that engages everyone in renewed social responsibility that goes far beyond just paying taxes and obeying the law. Electoral Reform may be a part of that new mission, but in achieving fair votes let us be clear that a vote in every constituency must have the same value. That means reducing the number of MPs and ensuring that parliamentary boundaries mean all constituencies in cities, across the countryside and in Wales and Scotland are of the same size.

We are in unprecedented conditions for this political generation. The opportunity for real and lasting change is hugely exciting, and a unique chance for all these newly elected politicians to transform both the reality and the perception of politics by the society whom we seek to serve.

And we now have a new opportunity to ensure that the Conservative Party and its legions of volunteers across the whole country are the focus of the creation of David Cameron’s Big Society. Achieve that and we will win the trust of the whole nation, and even the trust of the cities where we all still have much to do to seal the deal.