Some three months have passed since winning the Local Government Challenge and walking onto the stage at the Local Government Group Conference last June to accept my prize - the winner's trophy and the £10k Bruce Lockhart Scholarship.

As I stood there staring out to the audience I was full of excitement for the coming year. Little did I know just how exciting things would become and the overwhelming level of support I had gained back in South Cambridgeshire and elsewhere in the country.