Tories lose overall control of council

Wokingham: Future leadership in balance as Lib Dems make gains

For the first time in two decades the Conservatives have lost overall control of Wokingham Borough Council.

The Liberal Democrats took nine seats in this year’s local elections on Thursday, May 6, including five gains.

It takes the Lib Dems’ total number of seats to 23, just three behind the Conservatives’ 26 – leaving no party with majority representation.

Labour won two seats, with one seat going to the independents.

The historically Conservative local authority will still have a larger Tory cohort than the other parties, but the results from May 6 mean they do not have an overall majority.

Party representation in Wokingham Borough Council now looks like this:

W Conservatives – 26

W Liberal Democrats – 23

W Labour – 3

W Independent – 2

There were 18 seats up for grabs in this round of elections for the authority, with one seat being contested in areas covered by the Advertiser – Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe (RWR).

Conservative Cllr Graham Howe retained his seat with 872 votes, with Liberal Democrat Martin Andrea

second with 450 votes.

In a statement after the results, Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This is another hammer blow to Boris Johnson's Blue Wall which is now crumbling before his eyes.

“Lifelong Conservative voters have said enough is enough. This country is gripped by a cost of living crisis for which Boris Johnson’s out of touch Government has no answers. Conservative MPs like John Redwood in Wokingham need to start listening to their constituents who know the time is up on Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.”

Conservative leader of the council, Cllr John Halsall, said: “Wokingham Borough Conservatives want to thank all those residents who continued to support us and put their trust in us. We had an amazing team of candidates and volunteers who worked hard because they want to serve our residents and represent them. We congratulate those elected and commiserate with those who were unsuccessful.

“We are determined to continue serving our communities and ensuring the borough council offers high quality services to every resident.”

In a statement following his reelection, Cllr Howe said: “Like across many wards voting turn out for the ruling party in Westminster did not bode well for local elections.

“National and local politics has been conflated so local votes were lost on national issues.

“We as councillors need to work with you in the media to help residents understand what the council does.

“For example housing numbers get imposed by a central Government underling, and we at Wokingham fought our own party to get those numbers to a more reasonable level for our current residents. Housing is still an agenda item for RWR – if the Liberals control the council, from previous statements, housing will be less controlled.

“I was pleased to be selected by the RWR residents with an overwhelming majority and look forward to representing them until the next election in 2024 for the boundary changes.”

A decision on how the council will now proceed is expected to be announced at the borough’s annual council meeting on Thursday, May 19.