‘The local party has a real problem’

IT should have come as little surprise that Wokingham Conservatives voted against a motion to support a demonstration to end violence against women and girls: remember how the leader of the Council had to be shamed into belatedly stating the party’s support for the Black Lives Matter campaign?

It was like drawing teeth and did substantial damage to both his and its reputation. Unfortunately, it seems illustrative of matters much wider than equality - whatever the issue, the Executive is consistently on the wrong side of the argument: housing (over) development in inappropriate locations, insufficient help for the Borough’s poor (yes, they really do exist, as witness the thriving foodbank), congested roads – the list is depressingly long.

Of course, it does not help the equality balance that the Executive overwhelmingly comprises middleaged, middle-class men.

Before anyone thinks that I am a young, left-wing, campaigning feminist, they will be surprised to learn that I have lived quietly in Wokingham for over 30 years, possess more grey hairs than brown and vote Conservative.

However, given the actions that we have seen over the past few years, I feel that my local party is moving away from the values I believe in and it is a deeply unsettling experience. The answer is not the normal go-to, that is, task the Council’s PR team to put a more positive spin on things.

We can all see through the gloss, thank you. What is required is a fundamental shift in thinking and approach, starting with a purge of the dinosauric old-boy network which pervades the organisation.

I suggest that, if this is what I perceive, as a lifelong Conservative, the local party has a real problem which it must address urgently.

Jane Owens, Wokingham