By Liz Terry
Unless you’ve locked yourself in a dark cupboard, which can sometimes seem like the best option this close to polling day, you’ll be aware the General Election is next Thursday.
For residents in Reading, things look a bit different this year.
The biggest change is that not every Reading resident will be voting for a Reading MP. A recent review of Parliamentary boundaries, which take place to ensure that there aren’t large gaps between the numbers of residents living in each constituency, means that the old seats of Reading West and Reading East no longer exist.
They are instead replaced with three seats which encompass Reading borough residents. These are Reading Central, Reading West and Mid Berkshire (primarily located to the west of Reading) and Earley and Woodley (located of course to the east).
Most Reading residents who live in the Borough boundary will be selecting an MP for the Reading Central seat, which is where current MP Matt Rodda is standing for election. However, that isn’t the case for everyone.
If you live in the Reading Borough wards of Kentwood, most of Norcot, some small parts of Battle or Tilehurst, your poll card is issued by West Berkshire Council and you will be voting for a MP for the new Reading West and Mid Berkshire seat. And if you live in the Reading wards of Church, Whitley and some small areas of Redlands, your poll cards will be issued by Wokingham Borough Council and you will be voting for an MP in the new Earley and Woodley seat.
I know from knocking on doors, it has caused some confusion for Whitley residents who live in Reading, but whose polling cards are from Wokingham Council this time around.
It’s easy to assume that a mistake has been made, but that’s not the case. If you are in any doubt at all, take a look at the maps on Boundary Commission website (https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/2023-review/2023-review-volume-three-maps/page/7/) or you can go to https://mapit.mysociety.org/and type in your post code to check which constituency you fall under.
It’s also worth remembering that if you have a postal vote, have missed the final post, and need to drop it in person at a polling station, you can only do that at a poling station which is in the right constituency. So, for example, you can’t drop a Whitley postal vote at a Reading Central polling station. You need to drop it at a Wokingham one.
New rules also mean that you now need to fill in a form if you are dropping a postal vote by hand.
The other big change – introduced for the local elections for the first-time last year – is the requirement to bring photo ID if you choose to vote in person at a polling station.
Where a voter turns up at a polling station without an acceptable ID, staff will have no option but to ask them to return home to find their acceptable ID. A poll card alone does not entitle someone to vote.
Accepted forms of ID include things like a passport; a drivers’ licence; some concessionary travel passes, such as an older person’s bus pass or an Oyster 60+ card; and the new free Voter Authority Certificate, for those who applied for one. Voters can use expired ID, if they are still recognisable from the photo. A full list of ID which can be used is listed at https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/voting-and-elections/voter-id
A lot has been said and written about the introduction of photo ID by this Government, and the reasons for it. It’s worth looking at the impact of photo ID on May’s local and PCC elections in Reading.
They show 316 voters were turned away at polling stations because they did not have ID deemed acceptable under the rules or didn’t bring ID at all. Of those turned away, 201 returned with suitable ID and were able to vote.
A total of 115 residents did not return and, as a result, did not cast a vote.
The reality, of course, is the impact is likely to be considerably higher. We have no way of recording the number of people who were put off voting altogether because of the new ID requirement. It’s certainly something I’ve encountered on the doorstep.
At a time when people are understandably disillusioned with national politics, we should be doing all we can to make it easier for people to vote. It was inevitable that some residents would be disadvantaged more than others.
My sincere hope is that enough people feel strongly enough about the need for a change of Government, that they make a point of remembering to bring their ID next Thursday.
Cllr Liz Terry is the leader of Reading Borough Council and ward member for Norcot
