THE former mayor of Reading says that Labour has made him very welcome.
Cllr David Stevens crossed the floor earlier this year, switching from Conservatives.
At the time, he had not been selected by either party to stand in May’s local elections. But he has been selected by Labour to stand in Kentwood, and he couldn’t be happier.
On his switch, he said: “It was a very rigorous, robust and very courteous process. I was impressed with the way the party went about its business … it’s fair to say I was quite literally late to the party.
“A lot of seats were already sewn up.”
But a seat came up in Kentwood and he went along and presented his case to the party.
His motivation in standing is because he wants to carry on serving Reading residents, “and go on doing useful things”.
“It’s more about service that particular party ideology,” he said.
And his new political party has changed, he said, since the Corbyn days.
“It was all dragged hard left, now it’s much more back on its centre left roots,” he said.
Cllr Stevens says he is enjoying getting to know the ward.
“I’ve been getting out in the streets, talking to lots of people, doing all the normal stuff,” he explains. “It’s going well.
“I think the mood of the country is helping us – people are, quite understandably, very distressed with these extra costs of massive fuel bills, the National Insurance rise… all these things are having an impact.”
He could have chosen to retire from politics, not least as he had been feeling disillusioned with the Conservatives when he crossed the floor.
“At the moment, I’ve got a bit of a spring in my step,” he said. “I feel that this (seat) is winnable, and hopefully I’ll be able to carry on serving Reading.”
There will be some that think Cllr Stevens is standing for election because he wants to stay in power. He has a message to them: “You don’t go into local politics for money.”
But he can help people with problems.
“I’ve been around the borough for quite a while now,” he said. “I know how it works, I’ve often been able to help people quite quickly because I know which officers to talk to, how the planning rules work, and so one.”
Cllr Stevens also feels that local politics is quite different to national in that there is a “Venn diagram of two circles, red and blue, where the overlap is quite significant … most of us us can sit quite comfortably somewhere in the middle.”
Does this mean other candidates from the Conservatives could follow in his footsteps?
“That’s an interesting question,” he said. “I know a number of them are disillusioned, whether they would make the same move as me, I’m not quite so sure.”
