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    • AS IT HAPPENED: Local election results in Slough 2023

    Reporting team

    09:16AM, Friday 05 May 2023

    LIVE: Local election results in Slough 2023

    The local elections are done and dusted; the ballots are cast. Now all that remains is for the votes to be counted, to see who has won control of the council.

    With many local authorities doing their counts last night - including an exciting night for the Royal Borough - Slough council has opted for a (more humane to us reporters) next-day count.

    Your Express reporters will be live blogging the results as they come in.

    15:52: 

    Adrian and Elisa here, we are ready to pack up and go home. It has been an interesting morning and afternoon full of twists and turns. 

    It has been a pleasure live blogging for you all. 

    Now off to enjoy the coronation weekend. 

    14.34: Slough parishes turnout:

    Britwell: 26.7 per cent

    Colnbrook with Poyle: 28.1 per cent

    Wexham: 40.3 per cent

    The good people of Wexham turned up in force.

    Some more pics from Nick:

    Conservatives ring friends and family with the good news.

    Labour clap politely - some looking happier than others.

    14.29: Meanwhile, results from the Wokingham Borough elections have also come in.

    Sonning’s Michael Firmager has held on to his Conservative seat comfortably with 399 more votes than the Green Party’s Merv Boniface.

    Coming in with 181 votes is Labour’s Philippa Hills; Merv Boniface achieved 257 votes and Michael Firmager’s win was at 656 votes.

    More than 43 per cent of voters turned out in Sonning.

    In Twyford, Stephen Conway has held his Lib Dem seat with a comfortable win of 1979 votes. More than 50 per cent turned out to vote this time round - putting every Slough ward to shame, rather.

    Also standing were Grant Woolner (Con), who received 273 votes and the Labour Party’s Caroline Hill won 93 votes.

    14.20: What will happen now? Well, the only (remotely expected) way for the Conservatives to form a majority is to make a coalition with the Lib Dems - if they will agree to such a thing. 

    Otherwise it could be a minority administration - but that's a tricky thing to pull off. If you can't get the votes for your policies, you can't pass them.

    14.04: So the final result - 21 Conservative seats, 18 for Labour and 3 Lib Dems. The tables have turned - but barely. No one has a majority, so no one has overall control of the council. And the number of opposition members is exactly equal to the number of Conservatives.

    An unexpected result for anyone who is used to a Labour landslide in Slough... With the promise of interesting times ahead.

    Negotiations about who will be the leader of the council, and now else the administration will pan out, are likely to go on for a while.

    Lib Dems and Labour side by side.

    A big blue celebration - justified or not, you decide.

    14:00: The home stretch - Langley St Mary's and Langley Marish in.

    LANGLEY ST MARY’S

    Savneet (Savi) Kaur Bains, Labour - 535

    Shin Dhother, Independent Network - 474

    Julian Edmonds, Green - 207

    Gurdeep Singh Grewal, Labour - 563

    Adil Iftakhar, Conservative - 727

    Gurcharan Singh Manku, Conservative - 783

    Turnout - no percentage given.

    LANGLEY MARISH

    Preston Brooker, Labour & Co-op - 491

    Waljinder Singh Chahal, Conservative - 807

    Josephine Hanney, Liberal Democrats - 136

    Kuljit Kaur, Labour & Co-op - 505

    Mohammed Ansar Ahmed, Independent - 263

    Chandra Sekhar Muvvala, Conservative - 1,114

    Sharon O’Reilly, Independent - 245

    That's a much higher 40.48 per cent turnout.

    13.56: 

    13.50: Amjad Abbasi, Liberal Democrats, one of two Lib Dems that took Elliman, pleased with the result:

    13.46: Two more sets of winners announced:

    WEXHAM COURT

    Iftakhar Ahmed, Conservative - 815

    Mubashir Ahmed, Independent - 539

    Patrick Donachy, (not registered) - 129

    Harjinder Singh Gahir, Labour - 826

    Hardeep Singh Jandu, Conservative - 647

    Gaye Jeynes, Labour - 641

    That's 38.71 per cent turnout.

    COLNBROOK WITH POYLE

    Puja Bedi, Conservative - 679

    Avtar Kaur Cheema, Labour - 615

    Gurchetan Hayer, Labour - 408

    Joyce John, Independent - 310 

    Dexter Smith, Conservative - 701

    That's 30.09 per cent turnout.

    13.39:

    Where has everyone gone...?

    13.33: We are at 16 Labour seats, 13 Cons and 3 for the Lib Dems. Things haven't been this mixed for a long time.

    Here is James Swindlehurst, looking resigned while Tories jump for joy.

    13.30: Colnbrook and Poyle called, as well as Langley St Mary's. Results for Elliman are in:

    ELLIMAN

    Amjad Abbasi, Liberal Democrats - 534

    Ravinder Bhakar, Conservative - 187

    Mushtaq Ahmed Malik, Labour - 388

    Asim Naveed, Liberal Democrats - 460

    Nuzhat Nematali, Labour - 344

    Aakash Singh, Conservative - 187

    That's 29.66 per cent turnout.

    13.23: Wexham Court ward candidates called to the tables.

    13.22: For Cippenham Manor, it's a Conservative Labour split with exactly equal votes split between the two winners. How exciting!

    CIPPENHAM MANOR

    Ruqayah Begum, Labour & Co-op - 635

    Nadeem Khawar, Conservative - 663

    Dilbagh Singh Parmar, Labour & Co-op - 663

    Manjit Singh, Liberal Democrats - 307

    Ahmar Usmani, Conservative - 583

    That's 29.52 per cent turnout.

    13.14:

    CIPPENHAM VILLAGE

    Haaris Ahmad, Conservative - 394

    Baljinder (Bally) Gill, Labour - 469

    Shah MD Khairul Enam, Green - 378

    Josiah (Josh) Kimani, Labour - 394

    Frank O’Kelly, Liberal Democrats - 420

    Yasmin Raja, Conservative - 389

    Matthew Taylor, Liberal Democrats - 405

    That's 30.58 per cent of electorate.

    13.11: Siobhan Dauti, Conservative, celebrates her win for Northborough and Lynch Hill Valley.

    13.08: 

    LANGLEY FOXBOROUGH

    Sharon Gillingwater, Conservative - 393

    Jibril Hassan, Conservative - 284

    Mark Instone, Labour - 525

    Naveeda Qaseem, Labour - 557

    Petra Rau, Green - 178

    Sunil Sudhakaran, Independent Network - 481

    That's 29.95 per cent turnout.

    13.04:

    MANOR PARK AND STOKE

    Sajid Janjua, Conservative - 742

    Sarfraz Khan, Conservative - 805

    Mohammed Nazir, Labour - 913

    Jamila Sabah, Labour - 832

    That's 32.34 per cent turnout.

    13.01: They are really putting the press through their paces today, dishing out results in threes!

    UPTON LEA

    Haqeeq Ashraf Dar, Labour & Co-op - 1,105

    Arvind Dhaliwal, Conservative - 842

    Andrea Escott, Labour & Co-op - 957

    Raja Fayyaz, Conservative - 856

    That's 36.19 per cent turnout.

    12.59: It's official: Leader of the council James Swindlehurst has lost his seat. The Conservatives cleaned up again.

    CIPPENHAM GREEN

    Jemma Davis, Labour & Co-op - 581

    Gurmail Singh Hothi, Liberal Democrats - 198

    Ishrat Shah, Conservative - 911

    Nick Smith, Heritage Party - 100

    Robert Stedmond, Conservative - 895

    Wayne Strutton, Independent - 275

    James Swindlehurst, Labour & Co-op - 478

    That's 36.47 per cent of electorate.

    12.54: Slough's Labour MP Tan and cabinet member Rob Anderson look on sombrely... The Tories are leading on seats, 11 to 9.

    12:47: Upton Lea, Cippenham Village and Manor Park & Stoke called to the tables.

    More fabulous pics from Nick while we wait...

    12:45: And just a minute later, we have Northborough and Lynch Hill Valley. Everyone got about 500 and the bottom two were neck and neck, ending up with exactly the same number of votes.

    NORTHBOROUGH AND LYNCH HILL VALLEY

    Martin Carter, Labour - 580

    Siobhan Dauti, Conservative - 537

    Annetta Dendie, Labour - 512

    Steven Gillingwater, Conservative - 512

    That's 25.89 per cent turnout.

    12.44: Results in for Farnham. A Labour win this time.

    FARNHAM

    Sabia Akram, Labour & Co-op - 560

    Arshad Hussain, Conservative - 491

    Waqas Sabah, Labour & Co-op - 546

    Dalwinderpal Sahota, Conservative - 490

    A 23.87 per of cent turnout.

    12.35: Cippenham Green candidates called to the table. Big cheers are coming from over there - who from? I guess we'll find out soon...

    12.31: Happy faces for Labour too, as Cllr Mann and Cllr Anderson are both voted in again. The moment captured by Nick and his trustee camera.

    12.29: Celebrations from the Tories:

    12.25: Northborough and Lynch Hill Valley candidates called to the tables.

    12:23: Results in for Herschel Park. Looks like two cabinet members are keeping their seats.

    HERSCHEL PARK

    Zaffar Iqbal Ajaib, Labour - 612

    Ali Wajahat Mir (Rikky Lobbo), Conservative - 423

    Christine Hulme, Labour - 650

    Tom King, Conservative - 513

    That's 23.66 per cent of electorate in all.

    12:18: Meanwhile, candidates for Langley Foxborough, Farnham and Herschel Park have been called to the counting tables.

    Results for Haymill - looks like two Tory councillors keep their seats.

    HAYMILL

    Paul Kelly, Conservative - 803

    Sanna Malik, Labour - 457

    Catharine Parkes, Liberal Democrats - 252

    Satpal Singh Parmar, Labour & Co-op - 424

    Anna Wright, Conservative - 809

    Total turnout 29 per cent.

    12:10:

    Results for Chalvey. Closer numbers than we've seen in some wards so far. More wins for the Tories.

    CHALVEY

    Shahida Abbas Akbar, Labour & Co-op - 531

    Zafar Satti, Conservative - 674

    Mohammed Atiq Sandhu, Labour & Co-op - 538

    Rifaqat Zarait, Conservative - 707

    That's 32.92 per cent of people.

    12.05

    Results for Langley Meads also great news for the Conservatives.

    LANGLEY MEADS

    Satish Basra, Labour - 505

    Kamaljit Kaur, Labour - 542

    Neel Rana, Conservative - 904

    Mabu Khan Shaik, Conservative - 824

    That's 31.06 per cent of the voting public.

    12.03:

    BRITWELL

    Robert Anderson, Labour & Co-op - 685

    Dennis French, Conservative - 502

    Ollie Isernia, Independent - 204

    Pavitar Kaur Mann, Labour & Co-op - 612

    Ashish Mishra, Conservative - 467

    That's a total 26.19 per cent of the total eligible electorate.

    12.00:

    Results are in for Slough Central. No four-figure numbers here - a much more even spread but still wins for the Tories.

    CENTRAL:

    Ejaz Ahmed, Conservative - 547

    Safdar Ali, Labour - 447

    Katarzyna Rusin, Labour - 416

    Dhruv Tomar, Conservative - 539

    That's 28.24 per cent turnout.

    11:56:

    Results are coming thick and fast. The Upton results are in. And it's a Conservative sweep.

    UPTON:

    Balvinder Singh Bains, Labour - 603

    Jina Basra, Labour - 545

    Balwinder Dhillon, Conservative - 1,277

    Subhash Chandar Mohindra, Conservative - 1,220

    We've got 38.96 per cent of the electorate's votes.

    11:51:

    Results announced for Baylis and Salt Hill.

    BAYLIS & SALT HILL

    Surinder Chaggar, Conservative - 535

    Mohammed Safiuliah Hussaini, Conservative - 468

    Fiza Matloob, Labour & Co-op - 1,247

    Maroof Bibi Mohammed, Labour & Co-op - 1,070

    That confirms that Councillor Fiza Matloob, currently ward councillor, will stay in his seat. Current councillor for Farnham, Cllr Maroof Mohammed, will be joining him.

    Turnout: 35.42 per cent.

    11.47:

    Slough's Labour MP Tan Dhesi isn't giving too much away at this point. He's adopting a 'wait and see' approach. Although there's the national picture to consider, he said - alluding no doubt to how people are feeling about the current Tory government.

    But the council is in 'a challenging' situation, he acknowledged - and that will have an impact.

    11:42: 

    Candidates running for Slough Central have been called to the counting table.

    11:35:

    Candidates standing for Upton ward have been called to the counting table. 

    It looks like Upton will be the first ward to reveal its winners shortly.

    11.30:

    Tory leaders both current and former wait on tenterhooks! Great snap by Nick.

    11.24:

    Cllr Wayne Strutton, former leader of the Conservatives, said things are not looking good for him - but he's cheerful enough about it.

    He switched from the Tories to run as an independent for this election.

    "I'm not in the running but I'm glad I ran for election - and that I ran as an independent. I didn't want to run for a party I have no respect for.

    The Haymill and Lynch Hill councillor is actually running in Cippenham Green this time.

    Cllr Strutton with wife Amanda.

    Looking pensive for the count.

    11:08:

    Some pictures from our talented and handsome photographer Nick Parford. Find him at: https://twitter.com/nickparford?lang=en 

    10.56:

    Voter turnout figures are in!

    It's higher than the previous 2019 elections - could be because everyone's fed up with the council (depends on the result), or it could just be because it wasn't raining this time...

    Yep, the weather impacts voter turnout. Quite a bit.

    10.45:

    Dexter Smith, leader of the Conservatives, who is also current councillor of Colnbrook with Poyle is standing again in his ward.

    Cllr Smith said he is 'feeling pretty confident'.

    "It's a difficult backdrop for the Conservatives but the Slough story is different," he said.

    He highlighted residents' frustrations over the massive hike in council tax (about 10 per cent) and other financial problems.

    10.40:

    Things were slowed down a bit by a cluster of people gathered to hear from the wise counters which ballots can be accepted and which can't. They have to make a call on whether it's clear who exactly the voters intended to vote for, based on their markings.

    A number of ambiguous ballots were double-checked - and most were ultimately accepted.

    Remember, folks, if you change your mind, make sure you scribble out that first vote very clearly, so it no longer looks like a cross. X marks the spot.

    10:34:

    Voter turnout announced! And then redacted... There was a problem with it. Oops.

    They are recalculating and 'it should be ready in a few moments'.

    10.07:

    Current leader of the council, James Swindlehurst, said that having been 'responsible for everything', he is 'not anticipating great things' for his own results.

    The Labour leader is standing in his current ward, Cippenham Green. He said:

    "It's been a mixed election this one, in Slough particularly, because it's 'the bankruptcy election'.

    "But we haven't had to do such difficult things with the budget this year."

    9:50:

    9:30:

    9:00:

    Hello! We've just got settled in Observatory House for the Slough count. I'll admit to being a bit jittery but that could be the coffee.

    First up, we'll probably have a look at the turnout. It was pretty low last year. Have the good people of Slough been galvanized towards the polls by the Labour-run council's precarious financial situation?

    We shall see...

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