Labour group leader loses seat in Wokingham Borough Election

Andy Croy loses his seat in Bulmershe & Whitegates

Author: James Aldridge - Local democracy reporterPublished 8th May 2021

For the most part, the day went well for incumbent councillors who were seeking re-election.

The ruling Conservatives for the most part held the line. They won 14 out of the 18 seats that were up for election last time, in 2016. This year, they managed to hold on to 11 of those and gain one seat.

The most gains were made by the Liberal Democrats, who won three seats at the expense of the Conservatives.

The Liberal Democrats gained a seat in Emmbrook from long serving Conservative incumbent UllaKarin Clark. Clark had served as a councillor since 2003, but was beaten by Morag Malvern, who won by a majority of 221 votes. The Liberal Democrats had accused the Conservatives, including former Cllr Clark, of lying over the council’s finances in their campaign material.

Lindsay Ferris, leader of the Wokingham Liberal Democrats, said:

“I’m very pleased that two of my colleagues and myself have managed to retain their seats with good majorities and we’ve won the Emmbrook seat, making one gain, and we are hopeful of potentially making more.”

The Liberal Democrats would later take the Evendons and Wescott seats from the Conservatives. Lib Dem candidate Peter Dennis scuppered former council leader Julian McGhee Sumner’s attempt to re-enter the borough chamber for Wescott. The seat had been held by Conservative Cllr Oliver Whittle, who choose not to stand. Meanwhile, in Evendons, long serving Conservative Cllr Dianne King chose not to seek another term. Her seat will be taken up by Marog Malvern of the Liberal Democrats.

One of the biggest results was the defeated of incumbent Labour Councillor Andy Croy, who lost his Bulmershe & Whitegates seat to Shahid Younis.

Conservative winner Shahid Younis said:

“I’m absolutely delighted. I’m pleased to be back, I just wish to thank all the residents of Bulmershe & Whitegates for giving me that privilege to serve them again.”

He had previously been a councillor for Bulmershe & Whitegates from 2011 to 2019. However, he was unhorsed by Labour’s Shirley Boyt in the 2019 Local Elections.

Mr Croy had served as the Labour group leader on Wokingham Borough Council. Three Labour councillors remain in the borough chamber: Shirley Boyt and Carl Doran, both representatives for Bulmershe & Whitegates, and Rachel Burgess, representative for Norreys. It is understood Cllr Burgess will take Mr Croy’s place as leader.

For his part, Mr Croy said: “We’ll carry on. If you’re on the Left of politics there’s the idea of the struggle, and it’s a struggle for a reason, because it’s not easy!”

It was a day that saw plenty of new faces elected, as eight of the councillors elected in 2016 chose not to stand in this election. They include Charlotte Haitham-Taylor (CON, Shinfield South) the former leader of the council who was ousted in 2018, and Richard Dolinski (Independent, Loddon) who left the Conservatives to stand as an Independent because he didn’t like the way Charlotte Haitham-Taylor had been treated.

Full Results

Eighteen seats were up for grabs. The Conservatives won 12 and the Liberal Democrats won 6.

The political makeup of the 54-seat council is now:

Conservative – 31

Liberal Democrats – 18

Labour – 3

Independent – 2

Here are the results in the order that they were announced:

Hawkedon

Mark Craske (Labour): 335

Clive Jones (Liberal Democrats): 1,411 (LIBERAL DEMOCRAT HOLD)

Eileen Kessel (Conservative): 869

Turnout: 37.82

Norreys

Jane Ainslie (Liberal Democrats): 481

Philip Cunnington (Conservative): 1,610 (CONSERVATIVE HOLD)

Nick Fox (Labour): 1,375

Turnout: 41.87

Loddon

Anne Chadwick (Conservative): 1,377 (CONSERVATIVE HOLD)

Majid Nagra (Labour): 689

Beth Rowland (Liberal Democrats): 741

James Towell (Green): 163

Turnout: 39.03

Bulmershe & Whitegates

Andy Croy (Labour): 1,443

Sheila Jordan (Liberal Democrats): 256

Samuel Langlois (Green): 186

Fiona Morley (Freedom Alliance): 23

Shahid Younis (Conservative): 1,489 (CONSERVATIVE GAIN)

Turnout: 48.12

Emmbrook

UllaKarin Clark (Conservative): 1,454

Morag Malvern (Liberal Democrats): 1,675 (LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GAIN)

Llewelyn Reed-Jones (Labour): 320

Turnout: 47.43

Shinfield South

Chris Johnson (Liberal Democrats): 1,152

Marcus McDowell (Labour): 359

Jackie Rance (Conservative): 1,423

Turnout: 34.78

Winnersh

Karen Clyde (Freedom Alliance): 91

Bernadette Mitra (Conservative): 1,002

Allan Murungi (Labour): 258

Rachelle Shepherd-Dubey (Liberal Democrats): 1,627 (LIBERAL DEMOCRAT HOLD)

Turnout: 38.09

Twyford

Martin Coule (Green): 124

Lindsay Ferris (Liberal Democrats): 1,677

Caroline Hill (Labour): 118

Grant Woolner (Conservative): 562

Turnout: 53.81

Evendons

Daniel Hinton (Conservative): 1,277

Dr Annette Medhurst (Labour): 299

Ian Shenton (Liberal Democrats): 1,390

Louise Timlin (Women’s Equality Party): 175

Turnout: 44.18

Hillside

Wes Budd (Liberal Democrats): 1,354

Pauline Jorgensen (Conservative): 1,472 (CONSERVATIVE HOLD)

Hari Sarasan (Labour): 303

Turnout: 49.13

Wokingham Without

Robert Comber (Liberal Democrats): 1,005

Pauline Helliar-Symons (Conservative): 1,616 (CONSERVATIVE HOLD)

Brent Lees (Labour): 210

Turnout: 44

Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe

Martijn Andrea (Liberal Democrats): 425

Stuart Cranier (Labour): 239

John Halsall (Conservative): 1,137 (CONSERVATIVE HOLD)

Turnout: 42.15

Finchampstead North

Alexander Freeny (Labour): 170

Martyn Foss (Green): 130

Charles Margetts (Conservative): 1,341 (CONSERVATIVE HOLD)

Jordan Montgomery (Liberal Democrats): 283

Turnout: 44.86

Wescott

Pete Dennis (Liberal Democrats): 1,052 (LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GAIN)

Colin Heath (Labour): 288

Julian McGhee-Sumner (Conservative): 1,011

Turnout: 43.15

Maiden Erlegh

Andrew Gray (Labour): 676

Norman Jorgensen (Conservative): 1,235

Russell Seymour (Green): 161

Mike Smith (Liberal Democrats): 931

Turnout: 44.73

Hurst

Paula Montie (Labour): 100

Brent Smith (Green): 68

Wayne Smith (Conservative): 749

Sam Turvey (Liberal Democrats): 211

Turnout: 49.96

Finchampstead South

Mike Eytle (Liberal Democrats): 454

Rebecca Margetts (Conservative): 1,235 (CONSERVATIVE HOLD)

Grace Tapping (Labour): 172

Turnout: 39.03

Charvil

Sam Akhtar (Conservative): 728 (CONSERVATIVE HOLD)

Martin Alder (Liberal Democrats): 367

Brian Scott (Labour): 81

Kathy Smith (Green): 55

Turnout: 52.16

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