Some familiar faces on the Swindon local political scene have left the stage – some by choice, others by the choice of the voters.

Long-serving councillors such as Bob Wright, Fay Howard and Vera Tomlinson all ended their service with an extra year. They have finally retired from their ward duties along with Maureen Penny, who was cabinet member for highways and waste services until the local elections.

Liberal Democrats leader Stan Pajak, whose time as a councillor in Swindon dates back to the 1990s, lost his seat in Eastcott to Labour by just 44 votes. His departure also means there is no Lib Dem representation in Swindon for the first time in decades.

Also leaving the council was Steve Allsopp, a long-serving Labour councillor and former deputy leader of the group. He was standing in Liden Eldene and Park South after serving as councillor for Walcot and Park North. While his old ward was won by Labour, the Conservatives took his new one.

Haydon Wick's Independent Tory Oliver Donachie is also a well-known name who will be missing form the chamber. He was a member of David Renard’s cabinet until May 2020 when he left the group and then later the Conservative party. Mr Donachie has been critical of the administration and Coun Renard in particular since then.

He said before the election he hoped to attract both candidates and voters to his new group, and raised the possibility of holding the balance of power between Labour and Conservatives with Coun Pajak.

Swindon’s voters had other ideas, with all but one of the council’s 57 seats now held by either the Conservatives or Labour.