Counting in the Powys Council elections is continuing here at the Royal Welsh Showground in Llanelwedd. 

More shocks at the Powys count. Long-standing Presteigne independent councillor Garry Banks has lost his seat to another independent Beverley Baynham and Conservative James Evans has taken Gwernyfed from Geraint Hopkins, another veteran councillor.The newly elected Cllr Evans says people have voted for "real change" at County Hall.At present independents remain the largest number on Powys council with 29 elected. The Conservatives, with 18 elected, look like the biggest political party.The Liberal Democrats have 13 councillors, Labour seven while Plaid Cymru has two councillors and the Greens one. Plaid and the Greens have seen candidates elected to Powys council for the first time. Both Plaid seats are in Montgomeryshire.The Conservatives have enjoyed the best improvement on the 2012 elections, boosting their numbers by eight. The Lib Dems have four more councillors than they had in 2012.The Green Party’s Emily Durrant has also won her party’s first ever seat on Powys counci. She pulled off a shock to unseat long-standing independent member Melanie Davies in Llangors. 

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have both made gains while Labour has retained the two seats it was defending in Brecon. Conservative Sarah Lewis has also won the Brecon St Mary’s ward, which had been held by Lib Dem Paul Ashton who stood down at the election. 

But Tory Tom Turner also lost his Llandrindod his seat in Llandrindod Wells to the Lib Dems. 

In Builth Wells former Welsh rugby international Jeremy Pugh, who is an independent, has also won the seat, which has been vacant since former councillor Avril York resigned from the authority at the end of last year. 

Keep checking back as we’ll be updating when we can