Council AGM - 22 for 22 against...

The three crucial votes of the night (1st two shown here) for Mayor, Deputy and Leader of the Council were won on the Mayor's casting vote.

Others will no doubt blog about the petulance shown by certain members, but I am off to bed!

However just to reiterate - Labour won 9 out of 15 seats at the recent elections and remain (increasingly!) the largest group on the council.  The fact that the leadership of the council was determined by the Mayor's casting vote says it all about why the Labour group nominated a Labour Mayor.  The information below should show why we selected the candidate we did:  Deborah Edwards is an outstanding community-minded councillor and will work very hard.

Council's press release:
"A new Mayor and a new administration for Reading Borough Council were both confirmed at the Annual General Meeting tonight. (May 25th)

Reading's new 'First Citizen' for the coming year was confirmed as Councillor Deborah Edwards at the annual Mayor Making ceremony at the old Town Hall in Reading on Wednesday evening (May 25). Councillor Gul Khan, last year's incumbent, was voted in at Deputy Mayor for 2011/12.

The annual AGM is also where political groups vote on an administration for the up and coming year. Following that vote it has been confirmed Labour will form a minority administration for Reading in 2011/12.

Reading Borough Council Leader will be Cllr Jo Lovelock. Her Deputy will be Cllr Tony Page.

Councillor Edwards, a mother of five and a grandmother of six, has been a Southcote Councillor since 2006. She has lived in Reading for more than 30 years but her association with the town goes back even further having previously lived in Reading with her parents in 1968. She is a school governor for Manor Primary and Southcote Primary schools.

Her chosen charities for 2011/12 will be:
Plan UK International
NSPCC
BWA
Albert Rd Day Centre
Launchpad
YMCA
Other local charities

Cllr Edwards said: 'I am extremely honoured to take up the position as Mayor of Reading. I have lived in Reading for 30 years and because of the fabulous way the whole community embraces newcomers I feel I have become a Reading native through and through. I hope to serve all Reading's residents and work to enhance our town's standing across the UK.'

New Reading Borough Council Leader, Cllr Jo Lovelock, said: 'Deborah Edwards will make an excellent Mayor. She is very committed to community activities and will be enthusiastic and energetic in everything she gets involved in. The new Labour cabinet is very focussed on getting down to business and in particular dealing with the challenging budget situation facing the Council. We will also develop new ways of engaging with the public on the issues which they tell us matter to them.'

The Annual General Meeting of the Council also saw the make-up of each of Reading Borough Council's committees for Municipal Year 2011/12 confirmed, with the following Councillors appointed to Lead on the following portfolios:

• Council Leader: Cllr Jo Lovelock
• Adult Social Care: Cllr Mike Orton
• Culture & Sport: Cllr Marian Livingston
• Education & Children's Services: Cllr John Ennis
• Environment & Climate Change: Cllr Paul Gittings
• Public Engagement & Health: Cllr Bet Tickner
• Housing and Neighbourhoods: Cllr Rachel Eden
• Regeneration, Transport & Planning: Cllr Tony Page (Deputy Leader)
• Service Delivery & Improvement: Cllr Jon Hartley"

Neighbourhoods and Housing

I was nominated last night by the Labour party and group to be the portfolio holder for Neighbourhoods and Housing.  This means that if we take control of the council I will be in the cabinet otherwise I will be shadowing the cabinet member.  It's a new role that combines housing, community safety and introduces a new responsibility for building up local communities.  I will have more to say after Wednesday but I thought I would share the speech I made to party members seeking their nomination.

It had to be no more than 3 minutes so it doesn't go into a lot of detail.  I'd just like to reiterate what I said in my speech - I'm really keen for people to get involved - please email me racheleden.whitley@gmail.com if you have any ideas or want to get involved.

"I'm standing for this role because I'm passionate about improving the communities where we live.  This portfolio is about housing but also about the quality of life in our local areas - and thus it links to other portfolios.

We've been asked about our priorities for the coming year.  I'll talk about housing first.

My vision for this portfolio is to ensure is that a child born in Reading today in 20 years time can both afford to and want to live in Reading.

Of course our council homes will remain a crucial priority.  However we have now achieved the decent homes standard, so it is now time ot talk to residents about what they want to see next.  Council tenants should be helping to make the decisions.  Personally I would like to see a focus on sustainability, working with the Environment portfolio, through even better insulation, and looking at the possibility of taking advantage of feed-in tariffs for solar.  However it's got to be about what residents want.

A key challenge to us will be the Conservative plans to allow social landlords to charge as so-called 'market rent'.  Many residents live in housing association homes and we need to see this as a wake up call to engage with the housing associations.  Many will also know that there can be concerns and problems regarding repairs and maintenance in housing associations.  The council needs to work with residents associations, and encourage new ones to ensure that we get what works for Reading's residents.

Every home in Reading should be a decent home though, not just social housing.  For that we need to look at the private sector, in particular private rented.  I would work with students, young workers other private tenants and their neighbours to find a way the council can help that goal.

Moving on to Neighbourhoods.   We need to be positive about our neighbourhoods and feel connected to our neighbours.

The police cuts are a real threat to our safer Reading agenda and to the Neighbourhood Action Groups.  It's an easy cut, community involvement, but we know it would be short sighted.  It's crucial for tackling issues that make a huge difference to our quality of life, such as preventing and dealing with anti-social behaviour.  In some areas we know the NAGs work really well and others they just don't get enough people.  We need to work with the police and concerned residents to build them up and make them sustainable.

On a more positive note whether it's community gardening, the upcoming Jubilee celebrations, the big lunch, children's events - the council needs to be working with people not just for them.
I see this role as working collegiately with other cabinet members and am really keen to foster community participation and allow residents to opportunity to drive change.

It's a Labour value to work together for the common good.  I hope we'll be able to work together across neighbourhoods to make an even better Reading"

#rdg Council latest: Deborah Edwards for Mayor and back on the doorstep in Whitley

For those readers of my blog who want to follow every twist and turn of the run up to the council's annual meeting a second letter from Jo Lovelock to the two Green councillors is published at the bottom of this post.  It has been issued publicly today and the Greens are aware of this.  In summary we have had constructive discussions with them, but not sought to 'do a deal' - we were clear that we had a mandate to form a minority administration after winning 9 out of 15 seats and 40% of the vote across town, well ahead of the Conservatives.  

Ironically the Conservative leader, after campaigning against AV has been arguing for a bizarre form of 'psuedo-AV' for his rainbow coalition:  effectively if you let there be a Tory leader this will represent the will of "2/3rds of the electorate".  Dodgy maths aside (3/5s is somewhat less than 2/3rds!) it assumes that everyone who voted Green, Libdem or Common-sense (or 'Roman Party' in Battle) would prefer a Conservative leader of the Council to a Labour one.  I'd be surprised if this was the case - in fact a number of voters for the Greens and Libdems (yes, amazingly I have friends outside the Labour party!) have said to me 'so, when are you kicking this lot out then?'

Meanwhile back out on the streets in Whitley on Saturday while doing a roving surgery we met people with concerns about their housing association, several people who wanted to move to postal votes, 2 households that just wanted to complain about the Conservative government and a new leaflet deliverer! (thanks Sandra...).  I am looking forward to all the too-ing and fro-ing about this being over so we can get on with the jobs we were elected to do: representing the people in our wards and standing up for Reading and residents across town.

Letter from Jo Lovelock is below (apologies for formatting, went funny when I cut and paste):

Dear Rob and Melanie,

Further to the meeting we held today (19^th May) I am writing to clarify the points you raised, particularly with regard to time-scales and processes by which we would want to see issues progressed.  I think we all acknowledged that some of this may not become clear until we were in a position to work on detail with officers, which can only happen if there is a clear administration of the council.  There will also be budget constraints given the projected budget gap as a result of the Coalition Government’s cuts to the Council’s grant.

However I will set out our intentions for each of the issues we have discussed:

• Maiden Erlegh School  - we intend to ask officers to seek counsel’s opinion as soon as possible and report back to cabinet or Council as soon as possible. I am talking to officers about how quickly that could be achieved and we would hold a special meeting if necessary.
• Residents’ parking in Newtown – there is a report to TMAP on 9^th June on parking zones and we will be asking for plans for the Newtown consultation to be included.
• Cemetery Junction and associated area study, which would include options for de-cluttering the local area including Wokingham Road. We will be reviewing the LTP priorities and bringing a report to Cabinet in July. I am advised that as it would be a revision of priorities it would probably not require a Council decision, but if it does it could come to council on 28^th June.  There is always an officer/councillor  working group on these area studies which involves ward councillors, which we would set up as soon as possible to scope the objectives of the study
• Cemetery Junction cemetery – investigation of a management plan – we would arrange for a meeting between ward councillors and the relevant lead councillor(s) to explore the possible options and then take a report to cabinet once the options were clarified.
• Community Care – it is our intention to halt the current process with brief report to cabinet in June, followed by a more detailed consideration of the way to protect those in greater moderate need now and into the future at the July meeting.  Mike Orton has spoken to you about this and will arrange for you to meet with the Director to discuss the detail. As we are still in opposition until the AGM this is one of those issues where a fully worked up set of proposals will only be available if it is certain there is to be a change of administration.
• LTP plans for the Third Thames Bridge and the Cross Town Route – we were very clear in our letter about both these issues, but to repeat that:

Ø      Kennetmouth – Labour’s long-standing commitment to the protection of Kennetmouth remains absolute, and was reiterated in a major policy resolution we put through Council in June 2008. Any developments in East Reading are subject to that imperative.

Ø      Third Thames Bridge – Labour has opposed the building of a Third Thames Crossing as a motorway link between the M40 and the A329. However, we believe that a third bridge, properly managed, controlled and integrated with the movements on Caversham and Reading Bridges could deliver major traffic reductions and significant environmental improvements on key radial routes such as the London and Wokingham Roads. A project of this significance would require a full environmental assessment including assessing the impact on the Thames and the Kennet.  Should there ever be any funding to take the proposal forward, which seems very unlikely in the foreseeable future, we would be asking for a full assessment of the impact on the environment, both in terms of advantages of reducing through traffic and any detriment to the area near the bridge. Of course the siting of any bridge would be within Wokingham and Oxfordshire’s council areas, which underlines the need to work closely with both those Local Authorities as any final decision on this would rest with them if the current Local authority boundaries remain the same. We do not expect there to be any further work on this in the near future, but were that to change we would certainly want to ensure there would be full environmental studies and public engagement before reaching any decisions.

Ø      Cross Town Route – Labour was instrumental in defeating the original Berkshire County Council plan and we remain totally opposed to any car-based scheme that would threaten the environment of Kennetmouth, the listed horseshoe bridge and King’s Meadow.  We are willing to consider subject to full local consultation a light rail or guided bus link to Reading station from the existing parking areas of Thames Valley Park provided that it could be implemented without adverse impact on Kennetmouth. Again we do not expect any funding to be available for this in the foreseeable future, but were that to change we would want a full environmental assessment as well as public consultation.

·         20mph zones – we would intend to bring a report to TMAP as soon as possible on the legal and financial possibilities of expanding these schemes subject to public consultation.

·         Feed-in tariff to fund solar panels at no cost to the council tax payers on public buildings, including the possibility of council housing.  I have talked to Ben Burfoot  to find out where this has now got to and it seems that after a halt in the process last year for a government review there is an outline business case which needs firming up, but that could be done in time for the July cabinet. We are very committed to this and would be keen to ensure that the further work was done in time for July cabinet.

·         Greener,Warmer,Safer scheme – Unfortunately government funding ends next April and we need to look for options to continue this scheme. Unfortunately the officer who deals with this is on leave until early June, but if we can find a creative way to fund its continuation we will. I understand the criteria used to prioritise areas is linked to fuel poverty and we will need to get a full briefing and a report to cabinet on the options for finding a way to extend the scheme.

·         RCRE – I have asked for the grants process to be halted pending the Council’s AGM and will then arrange meetings with RCRE and officers prior to a cabinet report in July, If there is a need to take any interim decision we can ask for an urgent item to 6^th June cabinet meeting.

·         Bus Pass Concessions – we will find a way to restore the concessions before 9.30 for those with disabilities and their carers as soon as possible. The fact that the cabinet papers go out the day after the AGM is inconvenient, and several things may have to wait for July to give time to work out the financial and other implications. As we said, though we would want to restore the concessions for all pass holders we may find the budget requirement for that is not immediately possible as a result of government cuts, but as soon as we can we will do so.

·         Green Bin collections. Again we would be looking for a report to July cabinet as June 6^th may be too soon to work through budget considerations. We would ensure that the Council would not be sending out any bills, which are now on hold I believe.

·         Residents’ parking permits and concessionary permits. Having made this another commitment during the recent elections, we would look to bring a report to July Cabinet on the times and numbers of visitors’ permits and also to reverse the £300 charge for concessionary charges for carers, charities etc.

I hope that is sufficient detail for you, but please do call if there are any other points you would like to talk through.

Yours sincerely,

Jo Lovelock,

Labour Group Leader.

Reading Borough Council

Solar panels - 1 month in

I haven't seen the Reading Chronicle yet but I gather I'm in twice this week, once for my solar panels, once for Whitley.

So I thought it would be good to do a post on my solar panels and how I am doing with them.  So far so good.  We took a meter reading 1 month after installation and they had produced over 300 KWH, which just on the feed-in tarriff and the 'deemed export' nets us over £130 (I don't have the numbers on this computer but will post up some graphs and more numbers in a couple of months for dataheads!).  Obviously we had a record April for sunlight so I don't imagine that will be sustained but so far it's looking like our annual target of 1309 KWH should be very pessimistic, which makes the pay-back periods much shorter than the 10 years we originally expected.  We've also heard that the group exercise we were in had over 20 people already install or pay their deposit so once the last installation is done we'll get a 12.5% rebate.  I'll post up full costs and projected payback time once this happens.


We're also trying to run the washing machine and charge mobile phones during the day in order to save more money on our electricity bill and our meter is definitely moving on much more slowly (sadly it's the modern sort that doesn't go backwards!).  I'd be grateful if anyone can think of anything else electrical we can do in the day to save on bills, sadly we can't move when we have the lights on!

Labour WILL seek to form a minority administration

I can confirm that the Labour group believes we have an electoral mandate to form a minority administration after winning 9 out of 15 seats and the largest vote share.  It's not the easy option but it is the right thing to do to stand up for Reading.
Labour has increased it's position as the largest party but we are still a seat away from being able to take control.  We are currently in discussions with the other groups, including as has been reported in the press with the Green party councillors.  Jo Lovelock and Tony Page have written a public letter to the Green councillors which both states our position and answers specific questions that they have raised.  The text is below (it's long!): 
Dear Rob and Melanie, 
Labour  Group Priorities for 2011/12. 
Thank you for meeting with Tony Page and myself last Thursday, 12^th May.  You asked us what our view was about the political situation the council finds itself in and about our priorities for the coming year were we to form an administration. You also told us which issues are important to you.

With regard to the political situation in Reading we made it clear that as we had won 9 of the 15 seats and had increased our position as the largest Party we felt we have a mandate to seek to form an administration, albeit a minority one.  We also feel that the Conservative-led coalition has been rejected by Reading’s voters and they do not have a right  to continue in office.  Obviously you now have a choice of either supporting a minority Labour administration or propping up the Tory-led one and all that would imply for the people of Reading.
In terms of Labour’s priorities, we listed some last week and Labour’s full manifesto is available on Labour Party website (www.readinglabour.org.uk). To summarise the main commitments, they are as follows:

                

• Radically re-organise the Council and its services to deliver savings and protect people in need. Labour will protect and improve services by giving local communities and service-users more influence over them. Instead of top-down control from the town hall, we will promote initiatives that hand more power to local people guided by the cooperative values of fairness, accountability and responsibility.

• Stand up for those least able to care for themselves. Labour will work to re-invent the system of community care with the involvement of the retired, those approaching retirement and the families whose loved ones receive care. Labour will suspend the cuts to community care and undertake a full

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• review of the service to ensure no elderly person is left without support they need.

• Involve the public more effectively and ensure that all voices in Reading are heard equally, by building new structures for involving the public: properly representative service user panels, social networking groups, traditional survey methods and in some cases local referenda to make sure everyone’s voice counts equally in Reading.

• Help local schools to do even better by working with local schools to raise standards, continuing to take action that makes it easier for schools to work together on an area-by-area basis, pool resources, get better value for money and produce better results, and take legal advice on how to challenge Wokingham Council’s intention to exclude Reading children from Maiden Erlegh School.

• Use the Council’s watchdog powers to stand up for the NHS. We will use these powers to hold the NHS to account in the interests of patients and will involve the public in doing so. We will resist the breaking up and privatisation of our NHS services by the Conservative-led government and will use the influence of the Council to protect local, publicly provided and accountable health services.

• Review the Green Bin fiasco introduced by the Conservative-led Council.

• Stand up for a cleaner Reading by making clean streets the Council’s priority, dealing with graffiti and looking after our parks and public spaces.

• Ensure that voluntary groups are recognised for the good work they are undertaking in the town, and that they are treated fairly and transparently when looking for funding from the Council. We will ensure they can plan effectively for the future.
  We also discussed the budget problems facing the Council, which will be compounded next year by the further cuts imposed by the Tory-led coalition government.  I have asked the Chief Executive for a full briefing on the scale of the budget gap predicted for next year, which we would be happy to share with you. However is certainly our intention to use any channels we can to lobby the Government at all levels to get a better deal for Reading’s residents and to involve residents in deciding priorities in the difficult financial situation we will inherit. 
  We discussed the position of the Mayor and made it clear that we had a Labour nomination. You are well aware of the political implications of that and how your actions during the year would be perceived, particularly at important meetings such as the budget meeting, if there were to be a Conservative Mayor. I know you are being told that the Mayor is somehow “non political”. I would point out that there is a difference between 
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  the ceremonial occasions and the chairing of a Council meeting, where all mayors vote with their own Political Group unless the majority party has such a large majority that it is unnecessary.  Whenever a Council is finely balanced the position of the mayor inevitably becomes highly political and we have had a contested vote on the position of Mayor in the past when Reading has been under No Overall Control. If you support a Conservative Mayor you will in effect be making it very difficult for us to be certain of implementing some of the policies we will bring forward, many of which you say you support.
  With all policies, as has been our best practice for many years, we would fully involve ward councillors in the decisions on these issues as they develop as well as ensuring full public consultation. However, we firmly believe there must be a transparent process with criteria in place, which decide which communities should benefit from Council schemes and to explain this clearly to the public.
  
  It seemed to us following our discussion that we do share many priorities and commitments. On the specific issues you raised at the meeting: 
  
  Green Bin Collection – as set out above we would take early action to review the decision and promote the original scheme more widely.  There would be an early report to cabinet on this. 
  
  RCRE – as set out above we have been appalled by the way in which the Tories and Libs have treated RCRE and other voluntary sector groups. Specifically, I wrote to the Chair of RCRE in April promising to call a halt to the grants process if we were in a position to do so and hold urgent talks about how to ensure that Reading’s strategic approach to community cohesion provides opportunities for RCRE to continue to have a role.  You may have received a call from officers regarding the grants process in recent days. I have asked, given the uncertainty over the control of the council, that the grants process be put on hold so that if there is a new administration we can have an urgent meeting to discuss the future of RCRE and those other organisations who have been denied an opportunity to bid for funds. Officers were intending to tell all group leaders that it is their intention to halt the process pending the AGM of the Council and so I would hope you have had a call to confirm that. 
  
  Community Care – As above our manifesto on eligibility criteria says that, "Labour will suspend the cuts to community care and undertake a full review of the service to ensure no elderly person is left without support they need." Also, I believe that you are aware of the legal requirement to go out to consultation again and then go to full Council for a policy change if the Council wants to go back to the position before the Coalition changed the policy.  Therefore, if we form an administration we will bring a report to the June Cabinet, which sets up a new support/preventative scheme and outlines a new policy way forward.
  
  A package of services will be agreed for all people currently on Greater Moderate and no-one will have their service changed until all have been assessed and an alternative policy/package agreed. A full report on this will go 
  

                                                 

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to Cabinet in July.  In outline on this, a package of measures to support people currently on greater moderate will be agreed, as will support for new people coming into the system. We can talk further in more detail on this if you wish; the alternative is to let the Coalition continue with their cuts.

                                                 

Bus Pass Concessions – As you will recall from our election literature, this is a priority for a Labour administration. Labour is committed to reinstating the bus pass concessions for people with disabilities and their carers/escorts, so that they can travel before 9.30a.m.  If finances permit we would like to reinstate it for all senior citizens too, but the cost may be prohibitive in the near future. 

Local Transport Plan:

Ø      Kennetmouth – Labour’s long-standing commitment to the protection of Kennetmouth remains absolute, and was reiterated in a major policy resolution we put through Council in June 2008. Any developments in East Reading are subject to that imperative.

Ø      Third Thames Bridge – Labour has opposed the building of a Third Thames Crossing as a motorway link between the M40 and the A329. However, we believe that a third bridge, properly managed, controlled and integrated with the movements on Caversham and Reading Bridges could deliver major traffic reductions and significant environmental improvements on key radial routes such as the London and Wokingham Roads. A project of this significance would require a full environmental assessment including assessing the impact on the Thames and the Kennet.  Should there ever be any funding to take the proposal forward, which seems very unlikely in the foreseeable future, we would be asking for a full assessment of the impact on the environment, both in terms of advantages of reducing through traffic and any detriment to the area near the bridge. Of course the siting of any bridge would be within Wokingham and Oxforshire’s council areas, which underlines the need to work closely with both those Local Authorities as any final decision on this would rest with them if the current Local authority boundaries remain the same. We do not expect there to be any further work on this in the near future, but were that to change we would certainly want to ensure there would be full environmental studies and public engagement before reaching any decisions.

Ø      Cross Town Route – Labour was instrumental in defeating the original Berkshire County Council plans and we remain totally opposed to any car-based highway scheme that would threaten the environment of

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 Kennetmouth, the listed horseshoe bridge and King’s Meadow. We are        willing to consider, subject to full local public consultation, a light rail or   guided bus link to Reading Station from the existing parking areas of                                            

Thames Valley Park provided that could be implemented without adverse impact on Kennetmouth. Again we do not expect funding to be available for this in the foreseeable future, but were that to change we would want a full environmental assessment as well as public consultation.

                                          

Using funding from a Renewable Energy Feed for Greener Warmer Safer -  As you know the central government funding for this has ended. If this scheme is to continue we will need to find a creative way to fund it. We will explore with officers the possibility of using a tariff to fund the Greener Warmer Safer scheme.  As Newtown had already been identified for the scheme I cannot see a reason why this would change, however, a process based on the principles of fairness and transparency must be established when we are able to take this forward.

Food Waste Recycling – we are committed to the principle of this, but when we have investigated its introduction in the past, including through Environment Scrutiny, it has proved to be highly expensive. In the current financial climate, although we will look again at the costs, we may not to be able to implement such a scheme until it becomes financially viable.

Maiden Erlegh School – the Labour Party has made a manifesto commitment to seek counsel’s opinion regarding a legal challenge to Wokingham Council.

It would be our intention to instruct officers to get that advice as quickly as

possible and take a report to cabinet as soon as possible.

Newtown Residents’ Parking – In the recent elections, Labour campaigned for a full consultation on a Resident’s Parking scheme for eastern Newtown and it would be our intention to deliver on that pledge and give priority to consultation with residents based on an early report to Traffic Management Advisory Panel (TMAP), which would clearly set out all the pros and cons of any scheme.

20mph zones – It is our intention to promote the extension of 20mph zones in suitable residential areas of Reading, including Park Ward, subject to full public consultation, support from local residents and emergency services and adequate funding. We would seek advice on whether this could best be progressed on a town-wide basis or on an area basis. We would again envisage an initial report to TMAP.

Cemetery Junction Area Study - within the current LTP schemes we intend to review priorities including item 26, which relates to Cemetery Junction and the A4 Study. We intend to bring forward a revised list to the Cabinet or a Council meeting.  As has been the case in previous studies, this could include looking at the de-cluttering of areas like the Wokingham Road shops.

                                                 

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Managing the East Reading Cemetery – you asked if the gate at the eastern end of the cemetery could be opened, at least during daylight hours, to allow residents the option of walking through the cemetery as an alternative to using pavements by the busy main roads.

We are suggesting that we might broaden that to look at a cemetery management plan, which could include opening the gate, but would also ensure that the preservation of wildlife and the overall management of the area could

be improved. Obviously the wishes of relatives of people buried in the cemetery would need to be taken into account and we would also need to consult the police, with their use of the Arch and from a safety perspective.

I believe I have covered all the issues you raised last week and would be happy to clarify any points before you meet with your colleagues again. I have marked this letter as a draft in case there is a need for further written clarification, which would be helpful before your meeting.  Tony Page and I will be happy to discuss our proposals in more detail when we meet at 5.00 on Tuesday 17^th May.  I have booked Committee room 5 again for our meeting.

Reading Borough council election results... the data

For those interested in the analysing the numbers the information below might save you some time.  It's sorted in order from the largest Labour majority down to the largest 'other' (Conservative) majority.

The fact that the Liberal vote collapsed is probably not surprising to anyone given that this was the pattern across the country and our local Liberal Democrats were less able than many others to distance themselves from the national party, due to chosing coalition with the Conservatives last May.

What is more interesting is looking at how the Conservative vote share has also dropped, in wards as different as Whitley and Caversham. They gained from the Liberal Democrats in Tilehurst (Labour moving up to second place and Liberal Democrats going from 1st to 3rd) but they lost to Paul Woodward of Labour in Church ward and are now placed third in Park ward losing their councillor there.  I believe there are some serious questions being asked this weekend about why the Conservatives in Reading seem to have done worse than elsewhere.

As you can imagine there are some very happy people in the Labour party this weekend, but we are also getting back to work - I've been dealing with casework involving allotments, housing, bollards and noise!

Data is below:

=========

Ward	Labour	Tory	LibDem	Green	Others	Total Votes	Labour %	Tory %	LibDem %	Green %	Others %	Labour majority	Labour majority %
Norcot	1557	650	233	220		2660	58.5	24.4	8.8	8.3	0.0	907	34.1
Whitley	1331	572	140	88	207	2338	56.9	24.5	6.0	3.8	8.9	759	32.5
Battle	1373	690	230	181	110	2584	53.1	26.7	8.9	7.0	4.3	683	26.4
Southcote	1543	858	193	157		2751	56.1	31.2	7.0	5.7	0.0	685	24.9
Abbey	1298	699	369	293	119	2778	46.7	25.2	13.3	10.5	4.3	599	21.6
Katesgrove	1100	431	592	165	90	2378	46.3	18.1	24.9	6.9	3.8	508	21.4
Redlands	1295	526	757	345		2923	44.3	18.0	25.9	11.8	0.0	538	18.4
Minster	1447	1066	286	220		3019	47.9	35.3	9.5	7.3	0.0	381	12.6
Church	1229	901	181	192	221	2724	45.1	33.1	6.6	7.0	8.1	328	12.0
Kentwood	1159	1369	247	177	134	3086	37.6	44.4	8.0	5.7	4.3	-210	-6.8
Park	1213	732	123	1585		3653	33.2	20.0	3.4	43.4	0.0	-372	-10.2
Caversham	977	1335	366	438		3116	31.4	42.8	11.7	14.1	0.0	-358	-11.5
Tilehurst	774	1146	957	159		3036	25.5	37.7	31.5	5.2	0.0	-372	-12.3
Thames	821	2139	522	439		3921	20.9	54.6	13.3	11.2	0.0	-1318	-33.6
Peppard	671	2109	523	340		3643	18.4	57.9	14.4	9.3	0.0	-1438	-39.5
Total	17788	15223	5719	4999	881	44610	39.9	34.1	12.8	11.2	2.0

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