Wiltshire Council will be getting a new leader after the elections, it has been revealed. 

The current leader of Wiltshire Council, Philip Whitehead, will be stepping back from his position to the back benches. 

He was first elected to Urchfont and Bishops Cannings in 2013 and took over as leader of the council following the departure of Baroness Jane Scott.

Cllr Whitehead, who was today re-elected, told the BBC it was the right time for him and that he wanted someone else to serve the next full-term as leader.

"I've been on the council eight years. I will continue as a councillor and take that forward," he said following the results.

"Let's make no bones about it, the last year have been incredible in terms of the working load."

Since the pandemic the council has been running seven-days a week and Cllr Whitehead – who has led the council throughout Covid – said he had only taken 10 days holiday in the last 15 months – which he said was not sustainable.

"I've said this before, things like Covid excellence change so who knows where we would have been had it not been for Covid," he said.

Cllr Whitehead added that he is positive about his time as leader having run a "fair, honest and transparent council".

It is expected that a new leader of the Wiltshire Conservatives will be decided on Tuesday (May 11).