IT was described as the most tedious election for generations, a foregone conclusion which left many voters - far too many - sitting at home, whatever William Hague's fixed grin said about the Tories' chances of denying Tony Blair a second landslide.

It has left Mr Blair as powerful as any Prime Minister Britain has seen, but the truth is that his support is as conditional as it was overwhelming.

And, if he's to become the great leader he aspires to be, even though he has defeated an Opposition party labelled this morning as "depleted" and "devoid of ideas", now's time for him to deliver.

Heaven knows, the signs that he isn't yet a man of the people have been plain to see in the past four weeks.

As we observed yesterday, we still feel short-changed by the lack of campaign time spent debating transport and the environment.

We still want an honest acknowledgement of what it's really like to be a teacher, or a nurse, or a pensioner in 21st Century Britain.

The question is, can he deliver?

For the Tories, it's more fundamental. Do they have it in them to reclaim the ground invaded by New Labour's vote-hunting move to the centre?

Or will they risk moving further to the right, back into True Blue Thatcherite territory? We'll see.

For the Lib Dems, it's how they'll consolidate themselves in the ground vacated by Labour's shift from the Left. If they do, they must surely be looking 10 years down the road and a return to true Opposition.

The question for Wyre Forest MP Dr Richard Taylor is how he'll meet his mandate and repair the health service in North Worcestershire.

While his success proves, once and for all, that Worcestershire Health Authority did pay lip service to the public with its Strategic Health Review, it will be a difficult job.

The point, though, is that Wyre Forest wanted someone who'll fight with them and for them. And that, in essence, brings us back to Tony Blair.

"For we are the people of England and we never have spoken yet", is GK Chesterton's famous quote.

Until last night, that was true. Now they have. Let's see Britain made better for it, not just Millbank.