Editing Swindon (section)

==Governance==
[[File:Borough of Swindon arms on 1905 'JaJa' postcard.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Borough of Swindon arms on an early 20th century postcard]]
[[File:Swindon Town Hall 2018.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Swindon Town Hall]], now a dance theatre]]
{{Further|History of local government in Swindon}}

The local council was created in 1974 as the Borough of Thamesdown, out of the areas of Swindon Borough and Highworth Rural District. It was not initially called Swindon, because the borough covers a larger area than the town; it was renamed as the [[Borough of Swindon]] in 1997. The borough became a [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] on 1 April 1997,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19951774_en_1.htm |title=The Wiltshire (Borough of Thamesdown)(Structural Change) Order 1995 |publisher=Opsi.gov.uk |date=11 August 2011 |access-date=16 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080902025517/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19951774_en_1.htm |archive-date=2 September 2008}}</ref> following a review by the [[Local Government Commission for England (1992)|Local Government Commission for England]]. The town is therefore no longer under the auspices of [[Wiltshire Council]].

[[Swindon Borough Council#Elections|Council elections]] are held in three out of every four years, with one-third of the seats up for election in each of those years; beginning in 2026, the whole council will be elected every four years.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 2023 |title=Swindon Borough Council votes for election every four years |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-67094760 |access-date=17 July 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] gained control of the council from the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] at the [[2023 Swindon Borough Council election|2023 election]], and increased their majority in [[2024 Swindon Borough Council election|2024]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2024 |title=Labour Party holds control of Swindon Borough Council |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gvle55e1do |access-date=17 July 2024 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Swindon is represented in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|national parliament]] by two MPs. [[Heidi Alexander]] (Labour) was elected for the [[Swindon South (UK Parliament constituency)|Swindon South]] seat in July 2024 with a 16% swing from the Conservatives.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Swindon South – General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001537 |access-date=17 July 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Will Stone]], also Labour, represents [[Swindon North (UK Parliament constituency)|Swindon North]] – which covers the whole of the north of the borough, including [[Blunsdon]] and [[Highworth]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Election Maps: Great Britain |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |access-date=17 July 2024 |website= |publisher=Ordnance Survey}}</ref> – after a 19% swing at the same election.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Swindon North – General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001536 |access-date=17 July 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> Prior to 1997 there was a [[Swindon (UK Parliament constituency)|single seat]] for Swindon, although much of what is now in Swindon was then part of the [[Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)|Devizes]] seat.