In what was generally a bad night for Labour, sunday night's results in the South East were a mixed bag. On one level, they were exactly the same as five years ago - with the Tories getting 4 seats in our region, the Lib Dems and UKIP picking up two each, and Labour and the Green Party both winning one. I was relieved to see Labour MEP Peter Skinner keep his seat. Peter works incredibly hard and always impresses on his vists to Portsmouth. He is passionate about working within the EU to protect British jobs.

I'm also pleased that no BNP candidate was elected in our region. The count this year was held on the same weekend as D-Day celebrations; a reminder that previous generations fought against fascist governments to keep the vote. By using it last Thursday voters in the South East kept turnout high enough to deny the BNP a seat in our region. Sadly in the North West and in Yorkshire turnout dropped and the BNP won a seat in each region even though their vote was lower than it was in 2004 when they failed to win any European seat.

What is remarkable is that the Tory vote in Portsmouth has completely flatlined from 2004. In 2004 they got 27% of the vote, and went on to lose parliamentary elections in both Portsmouth South (to the Liberal Democrats) and here in Portsmouth North (to Labour) a year later. Today again they received 27% of the vote, and again there will be a general election within a year. I am not complacent and I know re-election will be tough, but this result shows that there is no appetite for a Tory government. People don't want Tory cuts. "Especially in Portsmouth, people don't want a government who could cut the carriers programme. (Cameron has refused to commit to the carriers, in contrast to Gordon Brown who has stressed his commitment to building both carriers.)"

But although we kept our MEP in the South East, and the Tory vote in Portsmouth did not increase, Labour's voteshare still went down. So the election results also show that Labour in government has a lot more to do to regain trust. We have to deal with the MPs' expenses scandal. That means not just demanding some claims are paid back but also punishing those who have acted completely out of line. (4 Labour MPs have already been barred from standing again by a party disciplinary body). And it means proving to the public that this can't happen again by adopting a new set of rules when the Kelly Review reports back. It might be Tories who claimed for duck-houses and moats and David Cameron who claimed for mortgage interest payments for a home in his constituency even though he could afford to buy it outright, but it is Labour who are in government and it is us who have the main responsibility to clean politics up.

We also have to demonstrate that we have a vision of Britain's economic future going forwards. The action Labour has taken on the economy is shortening the recession and has already saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. (Experts estimate that if Labour had taken the same approach the Tories took in the early nineties another 300,000 people would be jobless.) But when we go to the country some time within the next year pointing to actions we have already taken will not be enough, even if the results by then have been seen and widely acknowledged. People want to see a new kind of economy emerge where we rely less on financial services and train people with the skills needed for 21st century jobs in sectors like advanced manufacturing, green technology and IT. Already we have started to do that by reinvigorating the apprenticeship scheme.

So a mixed bag: lessons we can draw as well as positives. Many people chose to vote for smaller parties like the Greens and UKIP in these elections, and so Labour's vote went down. When it comes to the General Election where there will be a direct choice between the Tories and Labour, we need to give people a positive vision of how Labour is reshaping our economy as well as pointing to the threat of Tory cuts and the devastating effect their lack of commitment to the carriers could have on jobs in Portsmouth.