Conservatives 'absolutely delighted' after major success at Swindon Borough Council elections
The party now holds an overall majority
Last updated 8th May 2021
Conservative leaders in Swindon have told us they are "absolutely delighted", after major success at this year's local elections.
On Friday 7 May, it was revealed that the Tories had won 16 out of the 21 Swindon Borough Council spots up for grabs.
This leaves the party with a total of 36 Swindon seats, comfortably exceeding the threshold of 29 for an overall majority.
38% of eligible Swindon residents casted their votes, 4% higher than the last local election in 2019.
Our reporter Matt Hutchinson watched the results being declared at the STEAM Museum:
'Conservative gains in traditional Labour heartlands'
The Conservatives gained seats that were previously held by other parties in six wards across Swindon, including Central.
Swindon Borough Council's Leader, Conservative Cllr David Renard, gave his reaction.
"We're absolutely delighted with the results that we've seen in Swindon today, so many Conservative gains in traditional Labour heartlands," he told Greatest Hits Radio.
"We've had some really good candidates, who've put in a lot of hard work and in many cases it's come-off".
When asked whether the outcome came as a surprise, Cllr Renard added: "We knew that we were going to do well, but I think it has exceeded our expectations ... particularly the gain in Central was a surprise to me.
"The other ones we made, we were hoping they would come-off and they did".
For Labour, it was a day to forget - winning just five of the 21 Swindon Borough Council seats available.
Following a by-election in north east England, the party also lost its long-standing Hartlepool seat to the Tories.
The only notable Labour success in Swindon was gaining Eastcott from the Liberal Democrats, with Cllr Stan Pajak losing-out after decades in the role.
Swindon Borough Council is now compromised of 36 Conservative councillors, 20 Labour and one Independent Tory.