PHEW! What a night that was. High drama, unexpected twists, a stunning victory and candidates dressed as a muppet and an Arab sheikh.

The morning after the night before brought very contrasting hangovers for the political parties. Conservatives, led by Witney’s own David Cameron, were beyond ecstatic at a result that left the pollsters looking foolish, if not incompetent. The Scottish National Party had a night to remember too.

But for Labour and the Liberal Democrats there was only desolation, with high-profile candidates swept out of office and leaders falling like ninepins.

The UKIP surge did not materialise, but they made progress, as did the Greens.

Coalition politics, lack of confidence in Labour and a near terror of the SNP may all have contributed, but that doesn’t matter now.

The Conservatives are in control and they will kick on from here with new vigour and confidence.

Our job is to hold politicians to account; to challenge, question and on occasions give them a good going over. Our default position is ‘what are they hiding?’ But they are human beings too and thousands of them put their heart and soul into this election, often at the expense of their families and private lives.

So today we salute the winners, commiserate with the losers and marvel at the no-hopers who flogged around the streets knowing full well that their return would be a handful of votes.

Above all, we rejoice that this election appears to have made real inroads into the terrible political apathy that has gripped us for many years, with queues at polling stations and political newbies gripped by the drama of it all.

The Tories may be in power, but it is democracy that has won by a landslide.