VOTE 2023 – THE RESULTS

Barkham ward – LIB DEM GAIN l

George Evans, Conservative – 581 Asad Feroz, Green – 40

Annette Medhurst, Labour – 107

Ian Pittock, Lib Dem – 705

Roderick Stevens, Independent – 76 Spoilt – 7

Turnout 40.61%

Ian Pittock returns to the council chamber as a Lib Dem in a seat the party have never won before.

The former Conservative crossed the floor over Brexit, and used to be a Finchampstead councillor. Now he’s back as a ward councillor for Barkham, a seat that was held by John Kaiser for the Conservatives. He retired at this year’s poll, and the electorate had a choice between five newcomers.

This is one of the seats the Conservatives needed to win in order to regain control of the chamber. They didn’t.

Bulmershe and Whitegates – LABOUR HOLD l

Shelia Jordan, Lib Dem – 375 Samuel Langlois, Green – 235 Sagar Patel, Conservative – 958

Tony Skuse, Labour – 1058

Spoilt – 15 Turnout – 38.20%

Labour and the Conservatives have been neck and neck in this ward for a number of years, and Labour was defending.

Sitting councillor Shirley Boyt resigned before the vote and Tony Skuse was her successor as the candidate.

Sagar Patel was standing for the Conservatives, but in the end, it came exactly 100 votes short, with 958 votes to Labour’s 1,058.

Shelia Jordan came third for the Lib Dems with 375, and the Green’s Samuel Langlois had 235. Neither of which comes close to challenging the other two parties.

Coronation ward – CONSERVATIVE HOLD l

Emma-Louise Hamilton, Green – 152 Ian Hills, Labour – 190

Patrick Power, Lib Dem – 359

Alison Swaddle, Conservative – 1120 Spoilt – 7

Turnout – 43.65%

THIS is one of the Conservatives safe seats, and it’s easy to see why – Labour’s Ian Hills had a fraction of the share of the vote compared to winner Alison Swaddle.

And her vote towers above second-placed Patrick Power from the Lib Dems.

Alison has been a councillor for several terms and is experienced in the chamber and in her ward. She will be pleased with the verdict.

Emmbrook ward – Lib Dem HOLD l Rachel Bishop-Firth, Lib Dem – 1865

Alwyn Jones, Labour – 255

James Pett, Conservative – 888 Stephen Priest, Heritage Party – 84 Lauren Seymour, Green – 156 Spoilt – 16

Turnout – 42.69%

This was a Lib Dem gain in 2019, and the party will be pleased to have not only held on to the seat, but doing it in style.

Cllr Rachel Bishop-Firth received nearly 1,000 votes more than second-placed James Petts, and if you add up all the non-Lib Dem votes you still wouldn’t beat her. That’s a majority.

Emmbrook is one of those seats that has been steadily changing hands over the past few years, and the Lib Dems will be keen to keep it going forward. Based on this result, there’s little chance of a change anytime soon.

Evendons – LIB DEM HOLD l

Martin Jeater, Conservative – 910

Timothy Lloyd, Labour – 279

Adrian Mather, Lib Dem – 1579

Louise Timlin, Women’s Equality Party – 179 Spoilt – 23

Turnout – 42.23%

Another seat the Lib Dems gained in 2019, and another seat that was comfortably held, with nearly 700 votes between Adrian Mather’s total and the Conservatives.

This is another bad result for the Conservatives as this used to be another stronghold.

Louise Timlin was standing for the Women’s Equality Party and tallied a respectable 179 votes, enough to show there is grassroots support for her party’s vision.

Hawkedon – LIB DEM HOLD l Mark Craske, Labour – 307

Andrew Mickleburgh, Lib Dem – 1,269

Vishal Srinivasan, Conservative – 962 Spoilt – 8

Turnout – 37.81%

Hawkedon could be viewed as a swing ward between Conservatives and Lib Dems, as both parties have representations on the councils at various times.

Andrew Mickleburgh was defending his seat, and polled precisely 307 votes more than his Conservative opponent Vishal Srinivasan.

Coincidentally, 307 votes is the number polled by Labour.

Hillside– LIB DEM HOLD l

Evan Ainsworth, Labour – 347

Moses Iyengunmwena, Conservative – 1319

Caroline Smith, Lib Dem – 1346

Spoilt – 28 Turnout – 48.63%

The Lib Dems weren’t certain they would hold on to the Hillside seat, another Earley ward that is a tussle between them and the Conservatives.

And it looked like it could have been won by the Conservatives as candidate Moses Iyengunmwena did come very close. In the end, just 27 votes separated the two, and it was borough mayor Caroline Smith who came out the victor.

With Conservative leader Cllr Pauline Jorgensen holding another Hillside seat, you can bet the Lib Dems will be looking for another scalp when it is next contested.

Turnout here was high, with nearly half of residents voting.

Loddon ward – CONSERVATIVE HOLD l Alexander Heap, Lib Dem – 480

Abdul Loyes, Conservative – 1,136

Majid Nagra, Labour – 1,091 Spoilt – 28

Turnout – 36.27%

This was a seat were Labour came second last year, and Majid Nagra was standing again, hopeful that he could snatch another Woodley seat from the Conservatives.

He came close – there were just 45 votes between him and victor Abdul Loyes, standing again for the blue team.

Abdul Loyes has been a councillor since 2006.

Maiden Erlegh – LIB DEM HOLD l

Tim Holton, Conservative – 1191 Nagi Nagella, Labour – 396 Stephen Newton, Lib Dem –1318 Spoilt – 22

Turnout – 43.78%

For a while, it looked as if Tim Holton would be staging a comeback.

Talk in Loddon Valley was of a Conservative upset, and the Lib Dems possibly losing a seat.

In the end, it was unfounded and newcomer Stephen Newton was elected into the chamber for the first time, rather than seeing a former Conservative councillor take up power again.

This result drew cheers from the Lib Dems, and in the end they won comfortably, with a majority of 127.

Stephen takes up the role from Tahir Maher who stood down at this election after winning the seat in 2019.

Council make-up 26 Lib Dems 22 Conservatives 5 Labour 1 Independent