2023 result
2022 result
Polling stations
- Coley Primary School, Wolseley Street, Reading
- All Saints Hall, Downshire Square, Reading
- Coley Park Community Centre, 140 Wensley Road, Coley Park
The candidates
Paul Gittings, Labour
Paul has been a Minster, now Coley Ward, councillor since first being elected in 2002.
He has held lead councillor positions for the Environment and Culture and Sport and currently chairs the Strategic Environment Planning and Transport Committee.
In June 2022, Paul was proud to be elected as the first Labour chair of the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority while on a national level he chairs the leisure advisory group of the Association for Public Service Excellence.
As a longstanding councillor, Paul has been involved in many successful campaigns in his ward, most notably to help protect the Kennet Meadows and the Bath Road Reservoir campaign to prevent an over development of that historic site.
Most recently, working with ward colleagues, he has been actively involved in the regeneration plans for the High Rise area of Coley Park, the big improvements to all the parks and in the ward, and the successful Holy Brook Nook project in Old Coley.
As Environment lead councillor, he instigated and led on the formation of the ground-breaking Climate Change Partnership which has successfully helped shape council policies in this vital area, while during his Culture and Sport lead the successful 2016 Year of Culture was staged and the framework was laid for the much-needed revamp of our leisure facilities.
“If elected, I pledge to continue working hard on behalf of Coley Ward residents as part of a very strong Labour councillor team.”
Isobel Hoskins, Green
Isobel Hoskins has lived in Reading for over 30 years. She has worked in publishing. In her spare time, she enjoys walking in the Chilterns and conservation work.
Green councillors and candidates are working for a fairer, greener, more affordable town.
Greens did so well at the council elections last year that we overtook the Conservatives becoming the second largest party on Reading’s Labour-run council (32 Labour councillors, 7 Green, 6 Conservative and 3 Lib Dem). Labour have a very large majority of councillors but it is very close between Greens and Conservatives for second place.
Vote Green at the council elections on Thursday 4 May for hard work year-round but also to keep the Green Party ahead of the Conservatives as the main opposition party on Reading Council.
Get involved with the campaign. We will only win with your help.
Lizzy Sheppard, Conservative
Lizzy has lived in Reading for 22 years and this is her third time standing as a Conservative candidate for Reading Borough Council.
She is currently finishing her final year at University doing a degree in International Relations and Politics.
She is standing in Coley Ward and says: “I am particularly passionate about the education and mental health of young people and I believe that every child in Reading Borough Council should go to a good school.
“I also want to make sure that every resident of Coley has clean streets and green spaces that are safe for every resident.”
Benjamin Sims, Lib Dem
Ben Sims is a technology entrepreneur who previously worked for the United Nations. He believes that individuals and communities know best what solutions will work for them, and will fight to ensure their voices are heard when the council takes decisions. In his spare time he enjoys exploring Reading and the surrounding countryside with his wife and young children. If elected, his priorities are getting a fair deal for Coley residents and services, building the affordable housing we need, where we need it, and protecting our green spaces and woodlands from further development.
