It’s been a whirlwind few weeks in many ways. As well as being exciting, it has been tinged with great sadness.

The loss of former council leader Robin Currie a few weeks ago came as a great shock to us all and his loss is still sorely felt amongst all of his colleagues.

He was a great servant to Argyll and Bute and to the people he worked tirelessly to represent over a long and distinguished career spanning almost 40-years. He will be sorely missed.

As I now personally embark on a range of new responsibilities, as a both a policy lead in the new administration and as chair of the Helensburgh and Lomond area committee, I remind myself of the responsibilities that come with those posts.

I am currently reading President Barack Obama’s first book, A Promised Land, and his political "bedrock" was his service to local communities.

He listened and learned about the problems that regular families faced in their every day struggles. It made him a great politician and he learned what mattered to ordinary folk. I draw great inspiration from his approach to transparency and grass roots issues: “People Not Politics”.

That experience, and the lessons President Obama learned may have been set in the USA almost 20-years ago but the incredible political journey he undertook to truly represent the people that would eventually elect him is the journey all politicians should take if they are to be truly representative of the electorate.

As we approach the end of the UK General Election campaign the candidates, regardless of their political party, would do well to remember that national politics are less important than the needs of local people.

Those who are elected by the people must never take for granted the needs of the people. Do so at your peril.

I wish all the candidates good luck for the election and hope that local issues dominate the dialogue on the doorstep and that we return an MP to Westminster that will continue to fight for us all on local issues that affect our everyday lives. I look forward to working closely with the successful candidate.

Here in Helensburgh and Lomond, and indeed across Argyll and Bute, the new administration are already working tirelessly to listen, learn and act upon what we hear and see.

The next three years will see transparency, integrity and, above all, meaningful engagement with the people in our wards. Ever tightening budgets will always mean tough decisions but together we can take a responsible and collaborative approach and strive to do the very best we can.

As always I can be contacted on local matters: mark.irvine@argyll-bute.gov.uk or 07788 543275.