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The unlikely election battleground in Wiltshire

Dan O'Brien
Political reporter, BBC Wiltshire
BBC Ed Davey by newborn lamb, as lamb looks into camera lensBBC
Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey was one of the leaders to visit Wiltshire

With only a few weeks to go until the local elections, Wiltshire is already getting an unusual amount of high-profile political attention.

The council is normally regarded by the Conservatives as a safe bet.

But this May all sides are preparing for a tighter race.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, and her Liberal Democrat counterpart Sir Ed Davey have both been knocking on doors in the county this week, with more high profile visits expected soon.

The Lib Dems are gunning to win their first ever majority here, while Reform UK are also fielding candidates in all 98 Wiltshire seats for the first time.

Kemi Badenoch stands in front of Conservative supporters in Salisbury including MP John Glen and council leader Richard Clewer
Kemi Badenoch knocked on voters' doors in Salisbury alongside local Conservative leaders ahead of what she called a "difficult" set of elections for her party

"This is going to be a very challenging set of elections for us on the 1st of May," Kemi Badenoch told me on her visit to Wiltshire, knocking on doors in Salisbury and to see a defence manufacturer near Salisbury Plain.

Chemring Countermeasures employs more than 400 people, making flare systems to defend against heat-seeking missiles.

Closing in on Ms Badenoch's party is the double threat of their regular Wiltshire rivals the Lib Dems, as well as the newer challenge of Reform.

"They may have different ideologies, but they are both protest parties," she said.

"We are fighting for every vote, we are fighting to rebuild public trust, and actually this is not an opinion poll but a vote on who do you want to run your local services."

And on that point her party believe they have a strong story to tell in Wiltshire, which they've run since the council was created in 2009, and remains in a much more stable financial position that many of its neighbours.

Never one to miss a photo opportunity, the Liberal Democrat leader's visit began with cuddling new lambs at Wiltshire College's Lackham campus near Chippenham - before he too went out knocking on doors.

"The momentum seems to be with us, we're finding a lot of people on the doorstep feeling Wiltshire should have change," Sir Ed told me.

"We're not going to take anything for granted, but we are quietly confident that people are coming towards us," he said, with the party focusing on pothole repairs, social care, and the environment.

Questioned on what practically the Liberal Democrats would be able to do differently in Wiltshire, Sir Ed said: "We'll look at the books, it's a complicated picture, hopefully we'll be able to find the waste as quite a few Conservative councils have left."

The atrium entrance of county hall in Trowbridge
County Hall in Trowbridge has been run by the Conservatives since Wiltshire Council was formed out of the former districts and county councils merging in 2009

A big unknown in these local elections is the impact of Reform UK, led nationally by Nigel Farage, which is fielding candidates in every Wiltshire seat.

We'll be hearing a lot more from them as the local campaign continues with more events expected over the coming weeks.

Labour and the Green Party are standing in just under half of the Wiltshire seats, and there are a couple of dozen independent candidates and those from other parties.

You can find who is on the ballot in each ward by entering your postcode on this BBC election tool.

In addition to the main Wiltshire council, there are hundreds of seats being contested in Wiltshire's smaller town and parish councils, including Salisbury City, on Thursday 1 May.

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