Labour have taken control of Swindon Borough Council for the first time in 20 years.

A hugely successful campaign for the party saw them take 16 of the 19 seats up for grabs this year in a monumental day in the town.

They also unseated David Renard, who has been council leader for a decade.

On the eve of the coronation, the crowning moment for Labour came in Walcot & Park North. 

As soon as returning officer Susie Kemp had declared the sitting Labour candidate and her group’s deputy leader Emma Bushell had returned for another four years, she was surrounded by cheering party workers and a hug from group leader Jim Robbins. 

Her victory meant Labour had reached the insurmountable figure of 29 seats in the council chamber – enough to be the largest party.

But Labour’s success would not stop there. 

Overnight counts and wins by Labour taking councils such as Plymouth and Medway had led to high expectations that Swindon could follow suit. 

But Coun Robbins was not counting his chickens: “I’m optimistic but taking nothing for granted. 

“And people keep saying isn’t it great how we’re doing here and there, but every win elsewhere makes me feel a bit more under pressure. I keep thinking, ‘don’t let it be us here that messes it up’. But we’ve done everything we could.” 

With 19 seats of a total of 57 in the chamber up for grabs, Labour needed to hold the six it came in with and pick up at least another six to win control. 

And early signs suggested things may be in the balance. 

The first result declared was a win for the Conservatives Dale Heenan. 

North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, here with Sir Robert Buckland from South Swindon to help gee up his party faithful was quite chipper: “If we stop it now, then Dale has won it all. Everything’s fine.” 

That gallows humour became more and more a Conservative theme. A Tory hold in Blunsdon & Highworth came as another early result, but as more were declared it became a Labour march to power, only interrupted by the Liberal Democrats returning to the chamber after two years.  

The seat in Wroughton & Wichelstowe won by Adam Poole was technically vacant following Coun Cathy Martyn’s resignation. But she was a Conservative, and the party would have hoped to win the seat back. 

It took a recount, but eventually Mr Poole was declared the winner by just 20 votes. 

Then followed a series of gains for Labour which, on their own, would have been sensational. Together they became a blur of wins: Priory Vale, St Andrews, St Margaret & South Marston, Lydiard & Freshbrook. 

Even then, a win for Labour’s Neil Hopkins in Chiseldon & Lawn caused eyes to widen, and perhaps the victory of the day was Stanka Adamcova unseating the Conservative council leader David Renard in Haydon Wick by more than 650 votes 

Coun Renard said: “It’s the cycle of politics. And it’s clear a lot of people are voting on national issues.” 

Labour gains of Penhill & Upper Stratton, Old Town and Liden, Eldene & Park South felt almost routine and with a gain in Shaw and holding Mannington & Western the lid was put on Labour’s most successful local election for 20 years. 

Having held six seats and gained 10, Labour ended up with 33 seats in the chamber. 

The Conservatives ended up holding just two seats and losing 10, while the Lib Dems gained a vacant seat. 

The final make-up of the council is now Labour with 33 seats, Conservatives on 22, Independent one and the Liberal Democrats one. 

Labour will have a majority of nine, more than enough to be able to form an administration and get its policies through, for at least a year until the next elections in 2024.