WESTBURY Town Council will effectively be Labour-controlled from May, when the party will have three councillors.

The three Labour candidates for the town council will be elected unopposed, as will all five other candidates, as there were not enough nominations to contest the 15-seat council.

Mike Sutton in Westbury North, Jane Russ in Westbury West and Mike Kettlety in Westbury East will all be sworn in as Labour councillors after May 4.

Also elected unopposed will be Liberal Democrat Gordon King, and Independents Ian Cunningham, Francis Morland, Russell Hawker and David Tout. Although the Independents could band together to form a majority group, Labour will be the largest political party.

Mr Kettlety said: “It was a surprise we all were elected unopposed and an even bigger surprise that Labour is now the largest group on Westbury Town Council.

“I do wonder how many Tory candidates choose to hide behind the label of Independent. If it was a tactical decision to not publicly represent the Tory party, it has misfired.

“We are all also candidates in the Wiltshire Unitary elections and we are now really looking forward to that result.”

It is understood to be the first time in recent years that the Labour party have had effective control of any council in west Wiltshire.

Tony Free, the party’s press officer, said: “It’s evidence that the Labour Party is back on the scene and I think Westbury will change in light of this triumph.

“More and more services are being passed from Wiltshire Council to town councils and Labour will now be able to highlight the truth about what is going on to Westbury people while striving to make the town a better place.”

“We will also be going for a similar outcome in Trowbridge, where the town council has been controlled by the Liberal Democrats as there has been no alternative to the Conservative Party.

“But now that there are Labour candidates, it will be a real election in which people will have the chance to show their true feelings.”