Two more Labour councillors have left the party, and will now sit as Independents for the rest of the term. This brings the tally to 3 councillors stepping away from the Labour Party since they took control of Swindon Borough Council back in May 2023.
Councillors Sean Wilson and Ian Edwards are the latest to leave Labour, Cllr Wilson was elected in 2022 for the Lydiard & Freshbrook ward, and Cllr Edwards was elected for the Priory Vale ward in 2024. The two councillors will sit out their time as Independents until the upcoming Local Elections in May 2026.
Cllr Wilson said: “I have gone Independent. I remain on good terms with the Labour group and will continue to work together with them
“I have an elderly father to look after and I will not be taking part in Labour’s election campaign so it made sense to concentrate on council duties.”
Councillor Edwards took to Facebook on 15th September to announce that he had left the Labour Party, stating ‘IT’S OVER!’
He went on to say in his post: “So, the love affair’s over! Ok, that’s a little dramatic, but the sentiment’s the same.
I’d like to use that old phrase, “it’s not you, it’s me”, but that wouldn’t be true. It’s definitely you”.
Further into his post, Edwards showed how unhappy he was with the Labour Party, by saying: “For the last decade or so you’ve been uncomfortable having me around. I’m always prodding your conscience and reminding you of the morals we had, the same morals that brought us together, the same ones you seem to have forgotten about.
And I find the company you keep quite distasteful. At what point did it become acceptable to court the most vulgar of society like Trump, and appease the loons on the flag waving far right? By the way, didn’t we have our own flag once? The red flag? But you didn’t like that one because it represented us, so we had to discard it. Funny how things change, isn’t it?
Where did the fight go? Where’s the passion, the pride and the emotion?”
The two councillors, as of now will relinquish their duties on the various committees they were members of, as they leave the the Labour Party to sit as Independents.
The first councillor to leave the party was Cllr Dr Matt Lodge, who left the party to sit as an Independent after taking a position outside of the council, which was politically restricted, which left him not being able to be a member of any political party or campaign, or express support.
The latest departures from the Labour Party at Swindon Borough Council, means the Labour majority has reduced to 17 seats. The SBC breakdown, now stands at: 37 Labour – 16 Conservative – 3 Independent’s – 1 Lib Dem.
On Thursday 7th May 2026, the whole country will be going to the polls, as every local council seat in Swindon as well as the rest of the country will be up for contesting, with 57 seats all up for grabs, now that new ward boundaries have been drawn.
With the 2026 local elections not far away, new parties coming for Swindon’s voters, with Your Party and especially Reform who are gaining huge support nationally, and Labour at Government level not able to shake troubling stories in the press and media, this next election could well be the most exciting and closest for a very long time.
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