The 2006 Swindon Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

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Council in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council. After the election, the composition of the council was: *

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

40 * Labour 14 *

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

3 *

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Campaign

19 seats were contested in the election, with a total of 70 candidates standing and 10 sitting

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s not defending their seats. From the parties defending seats in the election these included 19 each from the Conservative and Labour parties and 15 Liberal Democrats. Other candidates included 11 from the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

, 2 Socialist Unity and 3 independents. The election also saw the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...

(BNP) stand for Swindon council for the first time, with one candidate, Reg Bates, standing in Gorse Hill and Pinehurst

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. His candidature led a group comprising

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

s, the Labour Party, community groups and some independent

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

s to form an alliance in opposition to the BNP. Issues in the election included regeneration, with the different parties proposing different ideas including a library, art gallery, redeveloped car park and the preservation of green spaces. The Conservatives defended their record in control of the council, saying that they had improved services and increased council tax by lower percentages than Labour had when they had been in control of the council. Labour said they would protect services the Conservatives were cutting, deal with

anti-social behaviour Anti-social behaviours, sometimes called dissocial behaviours, are actions which are considered to violate the rights of or otherwise harm others by committing crime or nuisance, such as stealing and physical attack or noncriminal behaviours s ...

and criticised the Conservatives for increasing council tax. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats said they would stand up for local residents and make the town centre attractive for everyone. For the election a new website was launched by the council where voters could register in order to get reminders to vote, in an effort to increase turnout.

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives strengthen their control of the council after gaining 5 seats to hold 40 of the 59 seats. 3 of the gains came from Labour who were reduced to 14 seats, with both of Labour's Swindon Members of Parliament blaming the defeats on national issues. The other two Conservative gains were from the Liberal Democrats who fell to 3 seats, while the 2 independent councillors were not defending seats in 2006. Overall turnout in the election was 34.21%, up on the 32.7% in the

2004 election The following elections occurred in the year 2004. Africa * 2004 Algerian presidential election * 2004 Botswana general election * 2004 Cameroonian presidential election * 2004 Comorian legislative election * 2004 Equatorial Guinean legislativ ...

Ward results

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2006 2006 English local elections

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2000s in Wiltshire