‘Wokingham people can’t wait to see the back of John Redwood’
THE RISE of the Liberal Democrats in Wokingham has been an amazing story says the party’s national leader, Sir Ed Davey.
On a visit to Wokingham last week, he was reflecting on the change in the make-up of Wokingham Borough Council over the past decade.
In 2014, there were 44 Conservative councillors, seven Liberal Democrats, one Labour and two independents.
At last year’s local elections, the Lib Dems were one councillor short of a majority, with 26 councillors, compared to 22 Conservatives, five
Labour and one independent candidate.
In the May 2 vote, all 54 seats in the council will be up for grabs because of the new constituencies, each with three ward councillors.
Sir Ed is hoping his party can go from running the council as a minority administration to having a majority, and praised the work of parliamentary candidate Clive Jones and his predecessors who served as leaders of the Wokingham Lib Dems.
“It’s been an amazing story for the Liberal Democrats here in Wokingham,” he told Wokingham Today. “There were very few councillors, now
thanks to Clive and the whole Liberal Democrat here, we’ve managed to take control, albeit as a minority.
“We think we can take overall control in May, and we’re really honoured that the people of Wokingham put their trust in the Liberal Democrats.
“They seem very angry against the Conservatives, both Wokingham Conservatives and national Conservatives. We’re finding lifelong Conservatives switching to the Liberal Democrats.
“Labour supporters know Labour can’t win here and they are coming to help us kick the Conservatives out. It’s very, very exciting.”
He continued: “We can see change here. I think some people in Wokingham are pinching themselves – they can’t believe that at long last they could have the potential, later this year, to see the back of the Conservatives and the back of John Redwood.
“They’re excited about that.”