THE ELECTORATE’S decision to give Reading’s Labour party an even greater share of the council chamber has been welcomed. The party gained four seats in the local elections, taking them to 33 out of a possible 48.
This year’s poll saw every seat being contested, and the party made big gains.
Council leader Jason Brock said: “It’s amazing to have the vote of confidence from residents right across Reading. They think that Reading Labour are delivering for them, they think Reading Labour are best for them.
“On the doorstep, it was fundamentally local issues that were coming up.
“In that context, I’m really pleased and humbled that residents have decided to stick with Reading Labour.”
On Caversham Heights, where Labour campaigner Sue Kitchingham snatched a seat from the Conservatives, Cllr Brock said: “It is an extraordinary result and well done to Sue for achieving that.
“I think it shows we’re moving forward against the Tories, and that’s exactly where we want to be, as a general election is looming in a couple of years.
“We are poised to take both seats – Reading East and West.”
If they did, it would be another scalp as Alok Sharma is now a government minister.
Cllr Brock was sad that former mayor David Stevens wasn’t elected to Kentwood as a Labour councillor after defecting from the Conservatives earlier this year.
“Kentwood is always a great challenge,” Cllr Brock said. “I’m delighted for Glenn Dennis and Mark Keeping, but I am disappointed for David. He’s given years of service to people in this town.
“He’s a relative newcomer to the Labour Party and I hope he’s going to stick around. I’m sure next year, we’ll see him as a candidate somewhere else.”
The change in Reading’s opposition from Conservatives to the Greens is something that Cllr Brock says is a “humiliation” for the blue team.
“Of course, the Greens have been pitching themselves as the party of nimbyism, and as the new Conservatives of East Reading. That’s something we’ve now got to combat, and show that Labour delivers meaningful benefits for residents right across the town, including in those wards in the east where (the Greens) have moved forward.”
One of the changes caused by the switch in opposition is a different opposition leader in the chamber.
How does he think he’ll get on with Green party leader Cllr Rob White?
Cllr Brock doesn’t mince his words: “Rob White has always been the least collaborative of all the opposition group leaders. It’s a shame and I hope he will change his approach.
“I hope that he will make use of the committee system we have here, which is designed to build collaboration between the parties for the benefit of the residents. If he doesn’t do that, it’s a great shame.”
But for now, Cllr Brock is not focused on party politics but on the job that residents have elected Reading Labour back into office to do.
“Tackling inequality is my day one priority, and we have to get on with it,” he said. “We’ve got to move forward with a programme of work that seeks to help those people in our most deprived neighbourhoods and help open new opportunities for them.
“That’s how we’ll really transform people’s lives here in Reading.”
