Get ready for polling day Last year was the first year since 2013 when there was no election in Swindon. But to make up for a missed year, there are at least two, and for some, three elections in one go this year. Every ward in Swindon will be electing candidates to Swindon Borough Council this year. It should have been a year off for Chiseldon and Lawn but the recent death of deputy Mayor Brian Mattock has forced a by-election. There are also elections for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire and there are elections in nine of Swindon’s parish councils - Bishopstone, Blunsdon, Central Swindon North, Covingham, Haydon Wick, Liddington, St Andrews, Wanborough and Nythe, Eldene & Liden.
Plenty of votes to be cast as Swindon elects a new PCC, borough and parish councillors swindonadvertiser.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from swindonadvertiser.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
LOCAL ELECTIONS
Clockwise from top left: Sam James (Labour), Fiona McAnespie (Green), Gary Sumner (Conservative) and Kevin Ritchie (Independent) RIDGEWAY is the most atypical of all Swindon’s electoral wards. In a borough with a large town and extensive suburbs, Ridgeway is Swindon’s rural idyll – it is the second largest ward by area and has by some distance the lowest population density. Its largest settlement is Wanborough – a beautiful west country village and there are a number of even smaller hamlets. The whole area is separated from the rest of Swindon by the A419 dual carriageway. While voting is almost an annual ritual in the rest of Swindon, it’s a four-yearly rarity in Ridgeway – the ward’s population means it only has one councillor, unlike nearly every other ward in the borough – with most having three.
Meet the candidates standing in Ridgeway thisiswiltshire.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thisiswiltshire.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Horpit Farm WANBOROUGH: An open barn and the lean-to shed attached could be made into an intriguing home. Farmer J Joseph, who runs Horpit Farm in Wanborough (pictured), has applied for permission to convert one of his hay barns into a four-bedroom house. The curved structure of the main barn would be retained as would the lean-to, but the open sides and front of the barns would be enclosed. The front of the new home would be formed by the lean-to, and almost the entirety of that new front wall would feature glass doors. The four bedrooms, all en-suite, would be in the taller Dutch barn.