Enjoyable experience

Local people may be forgiven for breathing a huge sigh of relief that the general election is now over. For my part, I found it a highly enjoyable experience, traveling throughout Orkney and Shetland and meeting and listening to folk from a variety of backgrounds.

While the UK-wide result was disappointing, it was a fantastic night for the Scottish Conservatives, with 13 MPs elected and us firmly establishing ourselves as Scotland’s second party.

And in Orkney and Shetland, the Scottish Conservative vote held despite serious pressure from two other parties with far greater local resources at their disposal. We were only one vote down on the result of 2015, and we will be building on this core vote going forward.

I’d like to thank everyone who voted for us in Orkney and Shetland, as well as those individuals and organisations I met while campaigning.

I’d also like to thank my agent Tracy Thomson and Maurice Mullay who coordinated things in Shetland for us, and all those – young and old – who helped us campaign across the constituency.

Finally, I wish all my fellow candidates all the very best in their next endeavours, and congratulations Alistair and his team on their win.

Jamie Halcro Johnston
Orphir House
Orkney