SWINDON once again was thrust into the limelight this morning as Chuka Umunna came to the town centre to formally announce his bid to lead Labour Party.

Following the Conservative victory in last week’s election Ed Miliband stood down as leader of the party and there has been much speculation since as to who will be taking his place.

The shadow business secretary posted the video online appearing alongside the Labour candidate Mark Dempsey, saying the failure to win hotly-contested seats like Swindon was the reason his party lost.

Mr Umunna said: “I’m pleased today to be announcing that I will be standing for the leadership of the party. I think we can and we should be wining in seats like in Swindon. North, South, East, West we can absolutely do it as a party.

“I think the Labour party can do it in five years, I want to lead that effort as part of a really big Labour team.”

Elsewhere, the victorious North Swindon Conservative candidate Justin Tomlinson was rewarded for winning the seat and increasing his majority to almost 12,000 by being promoted to Minister for Disabled People at the Department for Work and Pensions.

South Swindon MP Robert Buckland, who won by nearly 6,000 votes, is waiting to hear if he has been kept on as Solicitor General, a position he held before the election.