Reading Borough Council is the council for the unitary authority of Reading in Berkshire, England. Until 1 April 1998 it was a non-metropolitan district. Since the last boundary changes in 2022 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 16 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term.
The 2022 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 5 May 2022. These included elections for all London borough councils, for all local authorities in Wales and Scotland. Most seats in England were last up for election in 2018 and in Scotland and Wales in 2017. The elections coincided with the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election. In 91 cases, most of them in Wales, council seats were uncontested, each having only one candidate. Three seats in Scotland remained unfilled as no one nominated to fill them.
The 2022 Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. All 51 members of Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council were elected. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.
The 1973 Reading District Council election was the first election to the reconstituted Reading Borough Council, which changed from being a county borough to a non-metropolitan district under the Local Government Act 1972. At the time of the election it had yet to be decided whether the new district would hold borough status and so contemporary reports describe the election as being to "Reading District Council", although it was subsequently confirmed that the new council would be a borough.
The 1986 Reading Borough Council election was held on 8 May 1986, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. One third of Reading Borough Council's 45 seats were up for election.
The 1990 Reading Borough Council election was held on 3 May 1990, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. One third of Reading Borough Council's 45 seats were up for election.
The 1979 Reading Borough Council election was held on 3 May 1979, alongside local elections across England and Wales and the general election. All 49 seats on Reading Borough Council were contested.
The 1983 Reading Borough Council election was held on 5 May 1983, at the same time as other local elections across England and Wales. Following ward boundary changes, the number of seats on the council had been reduced from 49 to 45, arranged as 15 wards with three councillors each. All 45 seats on Reading Borough Council were up for election on the new boundaries.
The 1984 Reading Borough Council election was held on 3 May 1984, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. One third of Reading Borough Council's 45 seats were up for election.
The 1987 Reading Borough Council election was held on 7 May 1987, at the same time as other local elections across England and Wales. One third of Reading Borough Council's 45 seats were up for election.
The 1988 Reading Borough Council election was held on 5 May 1988, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. One third of Reading Borough Council's 45 seats were up for election.
The 1992 Reading Borough Council election was held on 7 May 1992, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland, and a month after the general election. One third of Reading Borough Council's 45 seats were up for election.
The 1994 Reading Borough Council election was held on 5 May 1994, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. Sixteen of the 45 seats on Reading Borough Council were up for election, being the usual third of the council plus a by-election in Battle ward, where Labour councillor David Booth had resigned. Prior to the election there had been one independent "Thames Conservative" councillor, Hamza Fuad, who had been elected as a Conservative, but split from the party in 1990. He did not stand for re-election in 1994. Labour retained its majority on the council.
The 1995 Reading Borough Council election was held on 4 May 1995, at the same time as other local elections across Britain. Sixteen of the 45 seats on Reading Borough Council were up for election, being the usual third of the council plus a by-election in Redlands ward, where Labour councillor Robert Sulley had resigned. Labour increased its majority on the council. The Labour leader on the council ahead of the election was Mike Orton, but he stood down as party and council leader immediately after the election, being replaced by David Sutton.
The 1996 Reading Borough Council election was held on 2 May 1996, at the same time as other local elections across England. Sixteen of the 45 seats on Reading Borough Council were up for election, being the usual third of the council plus a by-election in Redlands ward, where Labour councillor Tony Jones had resigned.
The 1997 Reading Borough Council election was held on 1 May 1997, at the same time as other local elections across England and Northern Ireland, and on the same day as the general election. All of the 45 seats on Reading Borough Council were up for election, rather than the usual third of the seats. This was in preparation for the local government reorganisation in Berkshire which saw Berkshire County Council abolished and its functions transferred to the six district councils, including Reading, with effect from 1 April 1998. The elections to Berkshire County Council which would ordinarily have been held in 1997 were cancelled. Some outgoing members of Berkshire County Council used the opportunity to seek a seat on the borough council for the first time, including the leader of the Labour group on the county council, Lawrence Silverman.
The 1976 Reading Borough Council election was held on 6 May 1976, at the same time as other local elections across England and Wales. All 46 seats on Reading Borough Council were up for election. The council remained under no overall control, but with the Conservatives becoming the largest party. The Conservative group leader, Deryck Morton, subsequently took the council's most senior political job as chairman of the policy committee, leading a Conservative minority administration.
The 1999 Reading Borough Council election was held on 6 May 1999, at the same time as other local elections across Britain. Sixteen of the 45 seats on Reading Borough Council were up for election, being the usual third of the council plus a by-election in Abbey ward, where Labour's Jane Griffiths had resigned her seat on the council.
The 2006 Reading Borough Council election was held on 4 May 2006, at the same time as other local elections across England. Seventeen of the 46 seats on Reading Borough Council were up for election, being the usual third of the council plus two by-elections. The by-election in Southcote ward was caused by the resignation of Labour councillor Christopher Swaine, and the by-election in Thames was caused by the resignation of Conservative councillor Rob Wilson, who had been elected as the member of parliament for Reading East the previous year. Labour lost three seats at the election: two to the Conservatives and one to the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives took the largest number of votes across the borough for the first time since 1992. Despite these losses, Labour remained in control of the council, with David Sutton continuing as leader of the party and the council.
The 1983 Bracknell District Council election took place on 5 May 1983, to elect all 40 members in 19 wards for Bracknell Forest Borough Council in England. The election was held on the same day as other local elections as part of the 1983 United Kingdom local elections. The Conservative Party won a third term in office, securing an electoral wipeout of the opposition parties by winning all 40 seats, a feat it would repeat in 1987.
