The 2024 Wokingham Borough Council election took place on Thursday 2 May 2024, to elect members of Wokingham Borough Council in Berkshire, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across England. Due to boundary changes all seats were up for election. The main impact of the boundary changes is that all wards in the Borough are now three member wards; the number of seats remained the same at 54. The old warding system had a mix of one, two and three member wards.[1]
Prior to the election, the council was under no overall control. The Liberal Democrats were the largest party and had been so since the 2022 election. At the 2024 election, the council remained under no overall control. The Liberal Democrats made a net gain of one seat, giving them exactly half the seats on the council, leaving them one seat short of a majority.[2][3]
The composition of the council before the election was as follows:
↓
26
5
1
22
LD
LAB
IND
CON
After the election, the composition of the council became:[4]
↓
27
8
19
LD
LAB
CON
After the 'all-up' elections in 2024, the Borough will continue to elect councilors by thirds, with one member in every ward being elected every year. 2025 will be a 'fallow year', i.e. a year with no elections with the next elections being in 2026, 2027 and 2028 and the next fallow year in 2029.
Barkham & Arborfield was formed from the former single-member wards of Barkham and Arborfield, plus the West of Finchampstead South centred on Arborfield Green, and a very small part of the old Swallowfield ward.[6]
It was the only ward with no incumbent councillors standing. Both Barkham's Ian Pittock (Liberal Democrat) and Arborfield's Gary Cowan (Independent) stood down, and both Finchampstead South councillors, David Cornish (Liberal Democrat) and Rebecca Margetts (Conservative) contested the new Finchampstead ward.[7] Annette Medhurst was the Labour candidate for Wokingham in the 2019 General Election, finishing third with 10.4% of the vote.[8]
Bulmershe & Coronation contains almost all of the former Coronation ward, the part of the former Sonning ward which was in the parish of Woodley, and much of the Bulmershe part of the three-member Bulmershe and Whitegates ward.[6]
Alison Swaddle was one the two incumbent councillors for Coronation, whilst Shahid Younis was an incumbent councillor for the abolished Bulmershe & Whitegates ward.[9] Younis' fellow Bulmershe & Whitegates councillor Tony Skuse (Labour) contested Maiden Erlegh & Whitegates which contains the other half of their former ward, whilst the other incumbent councillor Andy Croy (Labour) contested Wescott in Wokingham Town.[7]
Emmbrook was not affected by the boundary changes. Rachel Bishop-Firth and Imogen Shepherd-DuBey were both incumbents for Emmbrook.[9] David Lee was a former councillor for Norreys and was Leader of the Council for six years before stepping down in 2014.[10] Kate Haines was a former Conservative Councillor for Coronation Ward in 2015, but did not stand again in 2019.[11]
Evendons was not affected by the boundary changes. Incumbent councillors Sarah Kerr and Ian Shenton, both Liberal Democrats, are standing down.[9] Mark Ashwell was a former Conservative Councillor for Evendons ward, but is now standing for the Liberal Democrats [12] Louise Timlin has also previously stood for the Women's Equality Party and is now standing for the Liberal Democrats[13]
Finchampstead was formed by merging Finchampstead North with the majority of Finchampstead South, excluding the Western part of the ward centred on Arborfield Green which is part of Barkham & Arborfield.[6]
Both former Finchampstead wards elected two councillors. David Cornish and Rebecca Margetts were incumbent councillors for Finchampstead South, whilst Peter Harper and Charles Margetts were incumbent councillors for Finchampstead North.[9] As all four incumbents standing in Finchampstead, it was one of two wards in the election (the other being Maiden Erlegh & Whitegates) with more incumbents standing than there were seats available.[7]
Hawkedon gained a part of the former Maiden Erlegh ward in the North. Incumbent councillor Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat) stood down to focus on his parliamentary candidacy in the Wokingham constituency.[14]
Hillside gained part of the former Maiden Erlegh Ward, notably that part of the ward which included parts of the Reading University campus and a few roads from Shinfield. Three incumbent Hillside councillors stood - Pauline Jorgensen, Al Neale and Caroline Smith. Jorgensen also stood as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for the new seat of Earley and Woodley which includes this ward.
Under the new boundaries, the most South West part of Loddon was instead included in South Lake. Loddon's Eastern boundary remained unchanged, continuing to follow the Woodley parish boundary.[6]
The new ward consists of the Whitegates area of the former Bulmershe & Whitegates ward merged with a reduced Maiden Erlegh ward. Parts of Maiden Erlegh ward were lost to Hillside and Hawkedon wards.
Norman Jorgensen, Stephen Newton and Mike Smith were incumbent councillors for Maiden Erlegh, whilst Tony Skuse was an incumbent councillor for Bulmershe & Whitegates.[9] This makes it one of two wards, alongside Finchampstead, where there were more incumbent councillors standing than there are seats available.
Skuse's fellow Bulmershe & Whitegates councillors stood in different wards. Shahid Younis (Conservative) stood in the new Bulmershe & Coronation ward and Andy Croy (Labour) stood in Wescott in the East of the Borough.[7]
Andy Siu-Hong Ng was a Democratic Party Councillor in Hong Kong. On relocating to Wokingham he stood again as a Councillor, for the Liberal Democrats.
The new Shinfield ward was made up of the former Shinfield North ward and part of Shinfield South to form one three-councillor ward. Labour's Andrew Gray is the incumbent councillor for Shinfield North, whilst Conservative Jackie Rance is an incumbent councillor for Shinfield South,[9] Rance's two fellow incumbents for Shinfield South, Catherine Glover and Chris Johnson (both Liberal Democrats), chose to instead stand in Spencers Wood and Swallowfield.[7]
South Lake gained part of the Loddon ward, as well as a smaller part of the former Bulmershe and Whitegates ward. South Lake previously elected two members, whilst the new South Lake, as with all the new wards, has three members.[6]
Beth Rowland served as Wokingham Borough Mayor, presiding over meetings of the Council.[15] The other South Lake incumbent councillor, Laura Blumenthal (Conservative) stood down to focus on her parliamentary candidacy in Brentford & Isleworth.[16]
Spencers Wood and Swallowfield comprises the former Swallowfield ward and part of the former Shinfield South ward to make a single three member ward. Catherine Glover and Chris Johnson were incumbent councillors for Shinfield South, whilst Stuart Munro was the incumbent councillor for Swallowfield. Glover and Johnson's fellow Shinfield South incumbent, Conservative Jackie Rance, stood instead in Shinfield.
Adam Gillman sought to stand in Spencers Wood and Swallowfield for the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition, however his candidacy was rejected on the grounds that '[t]he particulars of the candidate are not as required by law'. Adam would later write to the Socialist clarifying “Despite being 18 years old and eligible to vote in the 2 May election, they explained that I couldn’t stand, because the nomination deadline was three days before my 18th birthday.”[17] Gillman was the only candidate whose nomination was not accepted by the Returning Officer in the election.[7]
Thames ward comprised the parishes of Charvil, Sonning, Remenham and Wargrave. Charvil and Sonning which were previously their own single-member wards, although the Sonning ward did not strictly follow the parish boundary and included a small part of North Woodley. Remenham and Wargrave were combined with the parish of Ruscombe into the two-member ward of Remenham, Wargrave & Ruscombe. Ruscombe is now part of the new Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst ward.[6]
Sam Akhtar was the incumbent councillor for Charvil and Michael Firmager was the incumbent councillor for Sonning. Wayne Smith was the incumbent for the ward of Hurst, which was combined into the new ward of Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst.[9]
Both incumbents for Remenham, Wargrave & Ruscombe, John Halsall and Graham Howe (both Conservative), stood down.[9] Halsall served as Leader of the Council during the Covid-19 pandemic.[18]
Twyford, Ruscombe & Hurst was created from the parishes of Hurst, Ruscombe and Twyford. Hurst and Twyford were previously their own wards, electing one and two members respectively. Ruscombe was previously part of the two-member Wargrave, Remenham & Ruscombe ward.[6]
Stephen Conway is an incumbent councillor for Twyford,[9] and the current Leader of the Council.[19] The incumbent councillor for Hurst, Wayne Smith (Conservative), is standing in the new Thames ward.
Wescott gained part of the Norreys ward and lost a small part to Norreys as a result of the boundary review. Wescott ward was previously a two member ward, but it will now be a three member ward. Jane Ainslie was a councillor for Wescott under the previous boundaries, whilst Andy Croy was a councillor for the abolished Bulmershe & Whitegates ward in the West of the Borough.[9]
Winnersh ward was unaffected by the boundary changes. Accordingly, Prue Bray, Paul Fishwick and Rachelle Shepherd-DuBey were also councillors for Winnersh under the previous boundaries.
Wokingham Without was unchanged by the boundary review. Accordingly, David Davies and Jordan Montgomery were also councillors for Wokingham Without under the previous boundaries.
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