SPECULATION over who would be the Conservative candidate to replace Sir Alok Sharma has been dismissed as premature.
Last week, the Reading West MP announced that he would not contest the seat at the forthcoming general election.
Boundary commission changes mean that the existing seat will change, and be known as Reading West & Mid Berkshire constituency. As such, a new Conservative Association for this area has been launched, and party members need to chose who will contest this seat for them.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Reading Conservatives leader Cllr Clarence Mitchell, whether this would be him.
“Sir Alok’s political legacy for Reading is substantial and he will be a very hard act to follow,” the Emmer Green ward member said.
“The Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate selection process for the new seat is entirely a matter for the newly formed Reading West & Mid Berkshire Conservative Association, so it would be both premature and inappropriate for me to comment any further for now.
“Once that process is underway, I’ll consider my options then.”
The Reading West & Mid Berkshire constituency comprises the Reading Borough wards of Kentwood, Tilehurst, and parts of Norcot and Battle, along with the West Berkshire areas of Calcot, Theale, Pangbourne, Buckleberry, Basildon and Burghfield.
Cllr Mitchell’s Emmer Green ward is part of the Reading Central constituency, along with all Caversham wards, central Reading, east Reading, Katesgrove, Southcote, Coley, Battle ward and parts of Norcot.
Cllr Mithcell has been the subject of previous speculation from Labour rivals that he moved to Reading to become a parliamentary candidate.
Rebuffing those claims at the time, Cllr Mitchell said he was “utterly committed to putting Reading first in all I say and do” following his re-election as a councillor in 2022.
Fellow Conservatives have paid tribute to Sir Alok for his work as an MP after he announced he would be stepping down on Tuesday, September 26.
Ben Blackmore, the chairman of the Reading West and Mid Berkshire Conservative Association, posted on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter: “Thank you for continuing service and most importantly declaring your intentions to your local members before anyone else”.
And Emma Webster, a former West Berkshire councillor, said in her X: “Thank you for everything you have done for Reading West and beyond since your selection as a candidate in 2006. It’s been a pleasure to be part of your campaign team at every election. Wishing you all the best for the future.”
