AS THE count of Reading’s votes concluded, councillors and MPs reacted to the news that the Green Party had made gains over the Conservatives while Labour held steady.
James Moore, leader of the Liberal Democrats in Reading Borough Council and Tilehurst candidate, said ahead of the results: “In Tilehurst, the big battleground issue is the removal of free 30-minute parking in council car parks.
“It was a decision made without any consultation, and that’s been a live issue, especially in the last month or so.
“There’s also the regular stuff: the potholes, the fly-tipping, the anti-social behaviour and lack of police, and issues with Thames Water.
“And those stand across the whole of Reading; though Thames Water is especially relevant to Tilehurst, as many are being denied compensation for the water outages we had back in January.”
He also added that country-wide problems would be on voters’ minds: “People’s council tax is rising and they’re not seeing a lot for it, and that’s true everywhere.
“All that against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis, they will be the big issues.”
Reading East’s Labour MP, Matt Rodda, said following the result: “I’m utterly taken back that we’ve taken Emmer Green, and I want to congratulate Daya Pal Singh wholeheartedly on having done such an amazing job.
“It was completely unexpected: the seat has never had a Labour councillor.
“Emmer Green was Conservative-represented for many years, and jumped between LibDems and Conservatives, so it’s absolutely unprecedented– we never thought we could take that seat.
“He’s done an amazing job so it’s a tribute to him and his team, who’ve worked incredibly hard.”
He said that Labour’s performance in the local elections were indicative of a desire for a general election.
“It’s a sign of the way that the views of the public are changing: people want a general election for a much-needed change of government.
“It’s a good indication of that, so we congratulate our colleagues in west Reading, where Mark [Keeping] massively increased his majority.”
Cllr Rob White, leader of the Green Party in Reading, said: “It was a really hard-fought campaign, so we’re really pleased that Dave was re-elected in Redlands and that Kate was elected in Katesgrove.
“We will of course keep campaigning for a fairer, cleaner, greener town, and we will continue our work on the council to achieve more affordable housing, and to tackle both air and water pollution.”
