Ref. 30862-18The people with the biggest grins on their faces were wearing blue rosettes last night.

The older and wiser Labour supporters had probably resigned themselves to defeat long before they arrived at the Oasis Leisure Centre.

Being older and wiser, they know that popularity in local politics ebbs and flows just as it does nationally, and that the national and local situations are often connected.

Among the younger hands, glad-handing optimism was the order of the day and the smiles never wavered, even when the results announced over the microphone probably made the smilers shed a few tears inside.

Bravado wasn't quite the word for it. All politicians, from parish councillors upwards, need thick skins.

The older councillors and ex-councillors in Swindon already have theirs.

And some of the younger politicians and would-be politicians have certainly begun to develop them.