Democracy can be a cruel beast, can’t it?

The fairest system of selection can seem anything but for the deposed politician, who, full of confidence, finds hopes implode and grand plans ground to dust in a single moment.

Though all of our MPs were safely returned to their shiny green Westminster bench seat, it wasn’t the case for many well-known faces in the council chamber.

Former High Wycombe mayor Trevor Snaith – an extremely motivated fundraiser when he held the role – was unceremoniously dumped off Wycombe District Council in the most agonising of circumstances.

Going up against his Lib Dem colleague Ray Farmer would be bad enough if the pair weren’t good friends and hadn’t ended up with the exactly the same number of votes to tie for a second place seat.

A tense recount ensued, after which Cllr Farmer emerged victorious by a single vote. It doesn’t get any closer than that.

It made it all the more difficult to swallow for the former councillor when he was immediately teased via Twitter by newly crowned MP Steve Baker over his loss.

Baker did later apologise for the “poor timing” of his “banter” and had his apology duly accepted, but not before he was roundly tutted at by one or two local figures.

The former Ryemead councillor was heavily involved in fighting for the residents of his ward, and rallied the troops at the mere mention of a new link road steamrollering its way through the area. Tellingly, Snaith told the Free Press his loss was less of a personal disappointment, but instead more of a frustration that he could no longer fight for the people of his Ryemead ward from within the crucible of WDC.

And crucially, neither will several of his colleagues as the Tories further increased their majority grip on the district.

But that is the sort of attitude we want to see from our public figures – one driven by service and the grit and determination to ‘finish the job’.

And that is probably how Richard Scott felt when he didn’t receive the backing of his Conservative colleagues for the WDC leadership at the group’s annual meeting this week.

I’m sure the Marlow councillor would have loved to have continued to unveil the new multi-million pound sports centre at Handy Cross next year.

Richard Scott has been at the centre of discussions and decisions over this mammoth project, and would be understandably miffed at not getting the chance to see it through.

The case of ‘Boris Bikes’ and ‘Boris Olympics’ springs to mind, with the blonde bombshell having scooped up Ken Livingstone’s baton to cross the finish line on both projects.

But congratulations to Katrina Wood on being named as Cllr Scott’s successor – a hard working, determined councillor whom I have heard speak passionately on numerous occasions through her role chairing Chepping Wycombe parish.

Having spoken out to this paper last year about her “disappointment” over the release of the High Wycombe reserve housing sites, the appointment is an intriguing one, with the council having already chosen their fork in the road on the matter.

But it is for certain that opposition to the ruling Conservative group at WDC will be diluted over the next four years, with non-Conservatives numbering just 13 in this administration – six fewer than last term.

Whichever colours you nail to your mast, it is vital the voice of opposition is seen and heard for the democratic process to properly run its course – and so that democracy, cruel beast as it can often be, does not end up eating its own tail.