THE face of Swindon Council will change yet again on Friday, May 16 when Kevin Small's eight-month-old Labour administration steps aside to make way for a new-look Conservative cabinet.

The shake-up is because of Thursday night's remarkable borough council elections, in which the Tories gained six seats, Labour lost six seats and the Lib Dems remained unchanged.

The Labour group did just enough in Moredon, where Maureen Caton held her seat by 28 votes, to ensure there would not be a Conservative majority.

But the Tories won the popular vote and became the largest party on the council, forcing Coun Small to stand down after his short tenure.

In spite of the much-publicised alternative voting methods on offer to the electorate, the elections were blighted by voter apathy only 29.82 per cent of Swindonians bothered to register their vote.

The Conservatives now have four councillors under the age of 27 shattering the myth that the Tories were the blue rinse party. One of the most remarkable results came when trainee legal executive Debbie Baylies, 26, won St Philip ward from the Labour group's chairman, Ray Ballman.

Christopher Van Roon, at 23 the youngest member of the borough council, held St Margaret for the Conservatives, while Glenn Smith, 26, won Covingham and Nythe.

Laura Holiday won Walcot after ousting lead member for education, Chris Eley, while the man who orchestrated the youngsters' campaign, Justin Tomlinson (Con, Abbey Meads), is chairman of Conservative Future formerly the Young Conservatives at the ripe old age of 26.