Tomorrow residents right across our town will have the opportunity to shape the future of Swindon by voting in this year’s crucial set of local elections.
Throughout the campaign the message we are hearing on the doorsteps from residents has been clear – they want to see further investment made into our town, more jobs and to elect local candidates who will be a strong voice for their communities.
Whilst some of the political factions have sought to talk down our town, your local Conservative team have run a positive campaign based on our strong track record of delivering for Swindon.
For example, the Conservative-led Borough Council worked closely with the Honda Task Force and now over £700 million worth of investment from the next owners, Panattoni, will be going into the Honda site. The Conservative Council has been involved in successful bids totalling nearly £45 million of government funding to help regenerate our town, and of course has made sure that treasured local amenities like Lydiard Park and Coate Water are being supported with extra investment.
Every vote will count in this election and I urge you to vote for your Conservative candidate so we can continue to invest in and enhance our communities, strengthen our vital local services, improve our amenities, and ensure our town becomes and even better place to live.
To find out more about your local Conservative team, please visit: www.swindonconservatives.org.uk/wards.
The rollout of the vaccine programme has been truly outstanding with the United Kingdom having delivered its 50 millionth jab this week.
These jabs are saving lives and helping us get back to normal, but the local elections this year will nonetheless be different from previous years. Due to Covid-19, there will be a number of safety measures in place at polling stations to help keep you safe. For example, social distancing will be in place and you will be expected to wear a face covering like you do when go into shops or on public transport.
You are also encouraged to take your own pen or pencil with you, but if you forget, there will be clean pencils available for each voter.
Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm, and it is important to remember that if there is a queue, you will still be able to vote as long as you joined it before 10pm.
This year, if you were planning to vote in person or are someone’s proxy, but you find you can’t go to the polling station for reasons related to Covid-19, you will be able to apply for an emergency proxy vote up until 5pm on polling day.
This can be done by contacting the Electoral Services team at Swindon Borough Council via [email protected] or 01793 464601.
If you are unsure of which polling station you are meant to vote at, you can either check your polling card, or use the Council’s handy online guide – this can be found at: www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20073/elections_and_voting/937/forthcoming_elections.