By the time you get to read this article, the Nationalist Party will have elected a new leader and potential future Prime Minister. By that time, a new chapter in Maltese politics will have started, hopefully harking in a new way of doing politics.

With the leadership campaign behind us, I wish to congratulate both contenders, Adrian Delia and Alex Borg, who while leaving no stone unturned and no corner of Malta and Gozo unvisited, managed to keep proceedings civil, a good sign for the future.

My word to the candidate who did not win this race is of immense gratitude. It is not easy to step up to the plate and put everything at risk. It takes courage and an unrivalled dedication to what you believe, and that is something that should be recognised. The party needs people like you. The country needs people like you.

The Nationalist Party has come a long way and has used its time in Opposition to learn and grow. It has been a rough time for all, and some lessons needed to be hammered in the hard way, but I believe that the crucible of humility has forged a stronger more determined Nationalist Party, and government in waiting.

This was most evident in the way this election was run. The impression I got was that everyone's eyes were not on the leadership contest itself, rather the bigger goal. Whoever becomes leader knows that the general election looms closer than we think. Before the year's end, the country is very likely to be in full on election mode, and the party needs to hit the ground running if it ever hopes to be successful.

Now that we have a new Kap, I urge him to run a tight ship, but an open one, nonetheless. We have said this time and time again, but it is truer today than it's ever been. The Nationalist Party was the most successful when it was a broad church of colours, opinions, views and visions.

The most significant achievement ever to be obtained by a political party in Malta's young democratic history is the country's accession to the EU, and that was only possible because the Nationalist Party truly embodied the values and aspirations of a very wide portion of the population.

This is so true and needed today. People are yearning to put their trust into someone, a party who is willing to welcome them, without judgement, but with open arms.

The Nationalist Party, in the little time it has, must send a clear and unequivocal message of inclusion, reaching out to sectors of the electorate that have been alienated, cast out even through perhaps well-meaning, but entirely misjudged decisions and positions in the recent past.

The ancient Romans used to confer upon Caesar the title of Pontifex, the builder of bridges, because they understood the importance of building bridges of thought and ideology even to places that were previously impossible.

The same goes for a modern leader who must be a proficient and tireless builder of bridges, within the party but most importantly to groups of society who are invisible or secluded.

I urge the leader to breathe new life into the structures of the Nationalist Party such as our ferghat, and club committees in our towns. These structures listen to, and feel the heartbeat of the streets, and they ought to be allowed to vent, express and pass on invaluable insights from the core. Unfortunately, this hasn't always functioned so well in the past, with blockages protecting the top echelons from a true picture of grass root sentiments.

Finally, a word addressed directly to the new leader.

Dear new Kap, you have spent an entire summer campaigning tirelessly, in every corner of Malta and Gozo, and you know what the reality on the ground is. Stay on the streets, stay close to your electorate, and stay close to those who face the challenges of modern life in Malta on the daily.

Only that way, can the Nationalist Party be in fighting shape to successfully face the next general election.

Alexander Mangion is Deputy Mayor of Attard