FRUSTRATED local election candidates in Swindon say they will continue to work in the community until they can campaign in earnest again.

And there is a feeling among them that the coronavirus crisis proves the importancee of local government – and elections for councillors – to our society.

Bhawna Goyal was due to stand as the Conservative candidate for Eastcott in May before the elections were postponed until 2021.

She said: “Obviously it is the right decision to put the election back a year – I support the decision that was taken by the government. Elections cost quite a bit of money and that’s needed at the moment for support to the NHS and the economy."

The IT consultant added: “I’m working with a voluntary group organising help for people who are self-isolated. I’m sorting out getting hold of Calpol for women who need it for their children.”

Council services such as bin collections and support for the vulnerable and elderly – normally not seen by most taxpayers – are continuing and the plight of many people is being made more obvious by the pandemic.

Bhawna said: “It’s generally an 80-20 split. Eighty per cent of people are quite appreciative of what the council does and there are 20 per cent who are not – and you’re never going to be able to please everybody.

“But there have been lots of volunteers and people are pulling together – perhaps they’ll all be voting next year now they’ve seen how important it is.”

April would have seen Sarah Church on the campaign trail for the second time in just six months. The Labour parliamentary candidate in South Swindon in December's general election hoped to replace Fay Howard as her party’s representative for Liden, Eldene and Park South.

She said: “This isn’t about any candidates, it is much more important that we get a grip of this.

“I wanted to be a councillor because I want to get things changed, to make things happen, and as a private citizen you can sometimes get frustrated trying to do that. But I’ll carry on anyway getting involved in public service.”

And Sarah also hopes the current crisis engages people with local government.

She said: “It’s where a lot of the real decisions are made – whether to put up council tax to pay for vital services, what the priorities are.

“I hope the realisation of how important local government is sees a higher turnout at the election next year and persuaded people that it needs funding after 10 years of really severe cuts.”

The elections scheduled for this year will be held on Thursday, May 6 2021 – in what was due to be a ‘blank’ year for Swindon council elections.