Local elections 2023 results: Labour Party wins control of Swindon Council

• Council leader Jim Robbins on Labour's victory and 'hard work' still to be done.

The Labour Party has taken control of Swindon Borough Council, winning a majority of seats.

Thousands of voters across the South West took to the polls to choose their councillors as part of local elections on Thursday 4 May.

The victory is the latest in a string of bad results for the Conservatives, which has run the council since 2004.

Sir Keir Starmer launched his party's election campaign in Swindon and Labour see victory there as a sign that he could become Prime Minister at the next General Election.

So far Labour has taken 15 seats, with the Conservatives holding two and Liberal Democrats taking one. At the time of writing, the result for the Mannington and Western ward had not been declared.

Voter turnout in Swindon was 37.21%, with 2,475 ballot papers counted.

Speaking to reporter Richard Payne, the new council leader Jim Robbins said: "We’ve been working towards getting a Labour majority here in Swindon for a long time, so it’s brilliant to finally be able to get it over the edge.

"There is certainly some anti-government feeling out there, lots of people very concerned about the cost-of-living crisis that the government have brought along.

“Lots of people are very worried about the cost of food, cost of their mortgages, but there was also very much a real feel of people coming out to support us.

“The feel on the doorstep yesterday was very different to how it was a few years ago for Labour. People are really concerned about the state of the roads and the over-running roadworks we’ve had in the town.

“We’ve got a tricky job, we’re going to take over an administration that’s got £400 million worth of debt, an unprecedented amount of cuts that we need to deliver, just in this year’s budget, so we’ve certainly got our work cut out.”

“It’s going to be really difficult for us to make that budget balance this year.”

Heidi Alexander, Labour's parliamentary candidate for South Swindon, also weighed in on her party's victory in the local elections.

Her message to the people of Swindon: "We won’t let you down. We’ll always be honest with you about the scale of the challenge we’re facing. Whilst it’s a fantastic day today, I think the hard work really starts here."

Earlier today, there were celebrations for the Labour Party in Plymouth as they won the city from the Conservatives making six gains, establishing a majority and placing them back in control - for the first time in five years.

Sir Keir has claimed he is now on course to be the next prime minister after his party's gains in local elections across the UK.