RESIDENTS have made their voice heard once again as 16 seats were up for re-election in Reading as local elections took place across the country.
Sunderland was the first to announce its results just after midnight, where the council saw nearly an increase of nearly 17% in its vote share, now at 59.8%.
It also saw a 13.7% reduction in vote share for the Conservatives, while Reform UK saw a vote share of more than 12% in its first election since forming.
Abbey ward remained a Labour hold, as David Stevens was elected with 820 votes, as did Battle, where Wendy Griffith was re-elected, and Caversham, where Matt Yeo was elected.
Caversham Heights, previously a long-time Conservative stronghold ward, saw another win for Labour as it elected Jenny McGrother, while Labour’s Andrew Hornby-Smith and Liz Terry were re-elected in Church and Coley wards respectively.
Emmer Green saw a flip from Conservative to Labour as Daya Singh was elected, while Katesgrove flipped from Labour to Green with the election of Kate Nikulina.
Labour held Kentwood with the re-election of Mark Keeping, as well as Norcot, where Naz Mamuna was elected.
The Greens held Park and Redlands ward with the election of Sarah Magon and Dave McElroy respectively, while Southcote and Thames wards remained Labour holds with the election of Graeme Hoskin and Richard Davis.
Reading Liberal Democrat leader James Moore held his seat in Tilehurst, as did Micky Leng in Whitley.
Liz Terry, the deputy Labour leader on Reading Borough Council, said she had mostly been in one ward, and it had been an interesting day.
She said Labour was not going to lose control of the council tonight as only a third of seats were being contested.
While she agreed that she thought voters were keen for a general election, she said: “we’re community councillors, and are working our wards all year round.”
“But this past week or so, and on the day, everybody has been out, gathering in the places where we really need to get our vote out and doing the hard graft. “
Matt Rodda, MP for Reading East, said ahead of the results announcement that while the local elections would largely be fought on issues here in Reading, voters would also be considering national issues ahead of an impending general election.
“I’m hopeful we may do well, for example, in Blackpool, which is a crucial test above all as they have a by-election in a parliamentary seat.
“The local results will of course have more of an impact on Reading itself.”
He explained: “We’re calling for a general election now, but it doesn’t look like Sunak is going to do that, so we want to demonstrate that it’s time for a change.
“We’re working and campaigning constantly through this period, but we will continue to do so until an election is called– in the meantime, we continue to get out into the communities in Reading to make that point, and so far we have had positive response.”
While many councils are still yet to announce their final results, Reading is following a trend shown in received results around the UK, with Labour largely holding steady through small gains and Conservatives making losses.
See our election results breakdown for ward-by-ward details.
