Liam Silcocks, independent: I’m not disappointed. It’s the first real election I’ve ever run in. I didn’t do a lot of canvassing, I relied a lot on the internet so I never expected to win it.

John Short, UKIP: For me it’s disappointing. The only thing is we were expecting to get more votes than what we actually got in Swindon. It’s not the fault of the voters, it’s the fault of the system. We need to get more people to join UKIP.

Paul Batchelor, Lib Dem: It just proves that the party machines work and the Conservative and the Labour Parties have pulled all the guns out to make sure it’s a political vote.

Colin Skelton, independent: I’m very pleased with third place. I think it was just the message really, in terms of pushing out a good, strong clear message.”

Clare Moody, Labour: There are half a million voters across Wiltshire and I do think if I could have got a chance to speak to half a million voters across Wiltshire I might have got more of them to vote for me, but that opportunity is not there.