The local elections in Swindon last week were third time lucky for Liberal Democrat Adam Poole.

Standing for a third time in succession in the Wroughton and Wichelstowe, the academic at the University of South Wales was finally returned as a councillor for the ward in which he lives.

Councillor Poole’s vote of 874 was 140 more than the 734 he got in coming second in 2022, and that was crucial as he had a majority of just 20 votes over Gayle Cook, the Conservative candidate.

He said: “I was very pleased to win in Wroughton & Wichelstowe as we had put in a lot of work over the last three years.

“Wroughton generally has been a very Conservative-voting area, so it was a bit of a surprise to win, and it was very close – but it shows the value of consistency and hard work and getting a name for yourself over a period of years.”

Now 57, Coun Poole says he’s keen to do the best for his ward more than anything else: “I’m at an age now where I’ve had most of my career and I want to give back to the village where I grew up and where I have lived most of my life.”

As the lone Liberal Democrat councillor in the chamber and with the incoming Labour administration having a handy majority of nine, Coun Poole is not likely to be able to have much influence when it comes to votes in the chamber at meetings.

But he says he’s much more focussed on the daily, nitty-gritty work of a councillor: “Being a councillor is not all about standing up and speaking in the chamber. A lot of it is about the casework that you do for local residents, helping them with whatever issues and problems they have.

“Even just being elected a few days ago two neighbours have spoken to me about different issues and I’m working on helping them with those. That’s what I really want to do – help people in Wroughton and Wichelstowe.”

Coun Poole said the issues he has identified while campaigning include development of Wroughton, the state of the roads, road safety and stress on the medical centre in Wroughton.

He said: “People don’t blame the staff at the health centre, they know they’re working very hard under a lot of pressure, but residents find it very hard to get an appointment.

“It’s not helped by Wichelstowe not having its own health centre, which is shocking really, and people come from Wichelstowe to the one in Wroughton, adding to the pressure. I’ll be working to try and get a centre in Wichelstowe.”