Britain went to the polls last week. Locally, we only had European elections but as I was invited to do the graveyard shift on the Radio 4 election special I could see see the council results live as they came in from across Britain.

I did wonder at times if anyone was actually listening to our psephology but was reassured to have a very nice email from New Zealand saying they were enjoying the programme down under!

As the final results were collated, it became clear that no party should be crowing.

The Conservative share of vote in both elections held up especially locally but we lost superb councillors and some MEPs across the country.

UKIP did well although many say this was a one-off vote to send the main parties a protest message – indeed UKIP election communications told voters to treat the elections as a “free hit” and people did just that.

Labour under Ed Milliband did poorly outside London, making fewer council gains than when Michael Foot was leader, while the Lib Dems had a rough few days, showing how difficult it is to move from a party of protest to a party of government

So what does it all mean? Overall, there is a clear message that people are fed up with successive governments ceding powers to Europe. I’m pretty convinced that this message has been received and understood and that we have to fix our relationship with the EU, preserve the trading relationship but restore sovereign powers for Britain, and give people a say with an in/out referendum. For me, this promise must be set in stone in this Parliament.

Second, we need to keep working to shut the open doors immigration policy of the disastrous Labour government years, get control of our borders, keep reforming the British welfare system so it does not provide easy pickings for those who won’t contribute, but crucially make sure that our businesses, and agriculture, can still hire the skills they need.

Last, all politicians have to get their heads out of the Westminster bubble, including those who are campaigning on totally undeliverable policies. The biggest winners in last week’s elections were the “Not Interested” party, comprising more than 60 per cent of the electorate who decided not to vote at all.

There is no “free hit at” a General Election when people have to decide the leadership and government of the country and getting the maximum number of people to vote next May should be job Number One for all of us.