Bathurst voters have put their faith in Mr Toole and he is now in a better position than ever to repay that vote of confidence.

It's easy to forget that prior to 2011 the Bathurst state electorate was traditionally a Labor stronghold.

That changed overnight when Mr Toole was swept to power with a record swing of more than 30 per cent and he has maintained a healthy margin ever since.

Prior to 2011 he was already a popular figure in Bathurst where he had been a councillor for several years and mayor for four but Mr Toole's greatest achievement was in also winning more than his share of the vote in strong Labor areas such as Lithgow.

So now he has an even greater voice in the NSW Parliament, what can we expect to see in our region?

Politics needs to be more clever than simply raining cash on a favoured area so what we really want to see is infrastructure to benefit the whole of western NSW, especially improved transport links between here and Sydney.

Mr Toole, in his portfolio as Regional Roads Minister, has already been a driving force behind upgrades to the Great Western Highway, particularly through Blue Mountains villages and on the eastern entrance to Bathurst.

We hope his new role will allow him to drive these projects even harder for the benefit of residents and businesses alike.

Mr Toole's new role as leader of the Nationals will see him spending even more time on the road and out of his electorate but Bathurst will never be far from his mind.

We may be seeing less of him, but we hope to see even more of his influence over the next couple of years.