Labour group leader loses seat in Wokingham Borough Election
Andy Croy loses his seat in Bulmershe & Whitegates
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