I want to take this opportunity, in my first Clydebank Post column since being elected to Glasgow City Council, to thank the people of Victoria Park for the immense honour of electing me as one of their local councillors.

The residents of Victoria Park have challenged me, and Glasgow Labour, to step up and listen as we fight to improve our city’s public transport network, clean up our streets, protect our precious public services and, as we emerge from Covid, to re-build our city and its green spaces.

Many who voted for me on May 5 will have voted Labour before - and I thank you for sticking with me.

Many of those who voted for me last month will have voted Labour for the first time - and I thank you, too, for taking a chance on me, and I hope I can show that I was worth that chance.

And to the people who I know did not vote for me, I ask you to know this: I want to work with you to earn your trust and respect to make our communities stronger and better over the next five years.

For too long, residents in the Victoria Park area have felt their communities and their concerns have too often been neglected and ignored. The fight to secure the future of Whiteinch Library, covered in the past year by the Clydebank Post, brought that feeling into sharp focus.

It was a fantastic community campaign, and I was proud to support it along with residents.

Our communities in Thornwood, Broomhill and Jordanhill face their challenges, too, and I want to be there with them also to tackle the issues that face them today.

At every opportunity over the next five years, I will use my position to fight for a healthier, wealthier, cleaner, greener, smarter Glasgow.

Sitting as a new member of the city’s licensing and regulatory committee, I intend to work closely with our trade unions, community groups, green groups, the taxi trade and other stakeholders across Glasgow in the weeks, months and years ahead to develop new policies which will improve standards across the city and protect jobs.

Over the summer, I’ll be engaging with stakeholders across the city to start that process.

Our city needs to start a fresh chapter after the challenges presented by Covid over the last two years. The old ways of doing business have to be thrown out. It’s time for a new Glasgow.

I may still be relatively new to the job, but I will always put our communities and our city first.

I’m ready to get down to work and serve the people of Victoria Park and of the city of Glasgow.