Slough election: Labour suffers huge losses to Conservatives - but no one has a majority

Labour has lost control of Slough Borough Council - ending a streak that lasted for 15 years.

Earlier today, council leader James Swindlehurst expressed doubt about how well he would do - but hoped Labour was in with a good chance.

Perhaps the eventual result was predicted by Slough MP Tan Dhesi, who when interviewed before the count, gave a muted response, saying effectively it could go either way.

The voter turnout was higher - 32.23 per cent, up from 28.88 per cent last time. Turnout in each ward hovered around the 30 per cent mark.

The start of the night might have inspired false confidence in Labour, as they won their first ward - both Fiza Matloob and Maroof Bibi Mohammed won for Labour & Co-op in Baylis and Salt Hill with over more than a thousand votes each.

But the tide started to turn immediately afterwards when Labour lost Upton to Conservatives Balwinder Dhillon and
Subhash Chandar Mohindra, who nabbed a tidy 1,200 or so votes each, leaving their opponents far behind.

The bad run for the ruling party continued in Slough Central, with a couple more Conservatives bagging the ward - though a much closer race, with 500-odd votes apiece.

Long-serving Labour councillors Rob Anderson and Pavitar Kaur Mann took Britwell - but the Tories struck back, taking Langley Meads, Chalvey and Haymill in one fell swoop.

Labour scraped through votes for Herschel Park. Much of the winning wards were current sitting council members, particularly members of the cabinet, including this one.

The party kept hold of Farnham, Langley Foxborough, Upton Lea and Manor Park & Stoke.

But Northborough & Lynch Hill Valley got split down the middle, with one Labour and one Tory taking the seats.

The same happened in Wexham Court - and again in Cippenham Manor, where, in fact, the winning candidates got exactly the same number of votes, at 663.

Another unexpected split was a Labour/Lib Dem split that saw Frank O'Kelly of the Liberal Democrats scoop a seat in Cippenham Village.

A further and even bigger win for the Lib Dems came in the Elliman ward, where not one but two Lib Dems took the top spots.

Lib Dems Amjad Abbasi, Asim Naveed and Frank O’Kelly are arguably the wild cards that will shape the future of the council - because it's possible that one or other party will seek a coalition with them.

Tories came back to take Cippenham Green in full; Colnbrook with Poyle, Langley Marish and Langley St Mary's too.

Speaking about the result to the Express, James Swindlehurst said he was looking forward to 'a relaxing long weekend'.

He said: "Clearly it's been a really difficult couple of years for the council. The council tax rise is a poisoned chalice.

"After 21 years I feel like I'm finally able to begin the rest of my life."

The future of Slough Borough Council is now unclear, as no party scored a ruling majority and will either have to consider a coalition or a minority administration - which will make it harder for it to get its proposals voted through.