From outside the chamber

The Wokingham Borough elections on May 2 have produced some interesting results.

As there were new ward boundaries and a change so that all wards have three councillors, some direct comparisons cannot be made.

But at an election where nationwide Conservatives have lost heavily, to only lose three seats perhaps shows that the voters in Wokingham were not impressed with the performance of the

Liberal Democrats who effectively have been running the council as the largest party for the last two years – the Lib Dems only won one additional seat and still do not have overall control.

It was also very interesting that in half of the 18 wards, those elected were from two parties, something which has very rarely happened in the past.

In four wards, two Conservatives were elected with one Lib Dem, and in a further four wards this was reversed. In the other ward there are now two Labour and one Conservatives.

Why has this happened?

In many cases, I believe it reflects that there are many voters who do recognise where an individual councillor has done a good job and carries ‘personal’ voter support rather than blanket support for one political party.

Another interesting reflection is on the turnout figures. Commendably for local elections, all but four wards enjoyed an over 40% turnout, with the highest 46%.

All four wards with lower than 40% turnout were in areas where there have been large amounts of new housing built over recent years, suggesting that the new residents are not getting to know who is representing them and what the local issues are, or that the three political parties are not managing to engage with these new residents.

So, as it seems that the 19 Conservatives are not prepared to work with the eight Labour councillors, it is left to the 27 LibDems to run the council for the next two years: holding just half the total number of seats.

I trust this situation will not result in the council spending too much time squabbling internally and not best serving the residents.

Also, important matters which have been left in limbo by the administration for the last two years, such as a new Local Plan to determine where the council wants any new housing rather than the developers deciding, will now be actioned and completed as quickly as possible.

Time will tell.

Angus Ross, former Wokingham Borough councillor