Commentary: 'Don't forget what happened four years ago'

Always remember one thing when you judge these local election results. Don’t forget what happened four years ago.

In 2008 Labour’s ratings were in the basement. Gordon Brown had chickened out of an early election. The economy was turning down. Ken Livingstone looked like yesterday’s man.

So Boris won in London. And Conservatives won council seats in places we would normally have little hope in.

Four years on, with Labour’s ratings recovered and with the coalition facing the usual mid-term challenges, Labour were bound to make gains. But even now they have fallen short of where analysts said they should be.

UKIP have gained a few protest votes – but have won virtually no council seats.

Given all the challenges we face, Conservatives have done better than we expected.

Of course we have had a tough few weeks. But we knew we would face difficult times. We inherited nothing short of a national economic emergency – described by the Bank of England Governor as the most difficult economic crisis faced by Britain in modern times. Only this week he pointed a big finger of blame for what went wrong at the policies of Gordon Brown.

Tough times mean tough decisions – and you can’t take those without making many people unhappy. But we’re determined to carry on taking the right decisions for Britain’s future.

The alternative would be much worse. The much bigger challenges faced by countries like Spain and Greece – with fast-rising unemployment on a scale far worse than here – show the risks of not acting to tackle debt.

It’s going to take time to sort things out. No Government can just wave a wand and improve things. But unless we restore long term financial stability in Britain, business will lose confidence and go elsewhere.

Right now employers back our strategy. And they are starting to invest here. In car making in the Midlands. In steel production in the North East. In food manufacturing in the Home Counties.

If we abandon our strategy, and go back to one where we borrow money without a care in the world, then business and jobs will go elsewhere.