Local election results 2024 live: Starmer tells Sunak to go as Labor wins Blackpool South

The results are in: Labor now has a majority on Swindon Borough Council the likes of which it has not seen since the 1990s.

Gaining nine seats, bringing its total to 41, it gives the party which spent most of the last two decades in opposition to a majority of 25.

The Conservatives, who until this time last year were still confident in power here, are now down to just 15 councillors. The Liberal Democrats have one existing councillor, but didn’t make any progress today.

All sides felt Labor would retain control – the question was always going to be “by how much”.

What we have seen is a 180-degree handbrake turn on the politics of just three years ago, a time when the Tories were winning Labor heartlands, which have now switched back

Labor has also made some significant gains in traditionally-Conservative areas of town.

But the Tories found some signs of hope holding onto a few of key areas.

Turnout overall was 31% – down on last year but still about typical here.

These results will be watched closely on a national level too, as Swindon has such form for electing MPs of the party which ends up in government.