Reading is a town and borough in Berkshire, South-East England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is 40 miles (64 km) east of Swindon, 28 miles (45 km) south of Oxford, 40 miles (64 km) west of London, 15 miles (24 km) north of Basingstoke, 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Maidenhead and 15 miles (24 km) east of Newbury.
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading, and extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The suburb is partly within the boundaries of the Borough of Reading and partly in the district of West Berkshire. The part within West Berkshire forms part of the civil parish of Tilehurst, which also includes the northern part of Calcot and a small rural area west of the suburb. The part within the Borough of Reading includes the Reading electoral ward of Tilehurst, together with parts of Kentwood and Norcot wards.
Reading West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Alok Sharma, a Conservative. He is currently serving in the Cabinet as the President for COP26. Sharma previously served as the Business Secretary, the International Development Secretary, and a minister in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Whitley is a suburb of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It is also an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading.
Southcote is a suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Located to the south-west of Reading town centre, Southcote has a population of about 8,500. The settlement lies primarily between the London-to-Bath road and the River Kennet.
Coley is an inner-town district near the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It is often referred to as Old Coley, to distinguish it from the adjacent, and much more recent, suburb of Coley Park.
Katesgrove is an inner-town district near the centre of the town of Reading and ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It is bounded on the north by the Inner Distribution Road and Reading town centre, on the east by Sidmouth Street, London Road, Kendrick Road and Northumberland Avenue, on the west Coley Park and Southcote, on the south by Long Barn Lane and Rose Kiln Lane and on the west by the River Kennet.
Reading North was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The constituency covered an area in and around the town of Reading in the county of Berkshire.
Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonial county, with no administrative responsibilities.
Norcot is an area of the suburb of Tilehurst in the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It is also an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading.
West Reading is a locality or informal subdivision of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire, with its own railway station which opened in 1906, by which time its main roads were an established housing area. West Reading is one of multiple suburbs of Reading such as Tilehurst and Whitley.
Elections to Reading Borough Council took place on Thursday 5 May 2011.
Elections to Reading Borough Council took place on 3 May 2012, with 16 council seats up for election. The Labour Party gained Church, Katesgrove, Redlands, Kentwood and Caversham wards, giving them a working majority and control of the council. The Conservative Party lost three seats but gained Peppard ward from an independent. The Liberal Democrats lost two seats but held Tilehurst ward, a seat they had lost the previous year to the Conservative Party. The Green Party gained Park ward from Labour but failed to make gains elsewhere seeing their percentage of the borough-wide vote fall slightly.
Abbey is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The ruins of Reading Abbey lie within the boundaries of the ward, a fact from which it derives its name. The ward covers the centre of the town, south of the River Thames, and is bordered by Battle, Thames, Redlands, Katesgrove and Coley wards. Although including significant portions of both the suburbs of West Reading and East Reading, the ward lies almost entirely within the Reading East parliamentary constituency, with only a few streets to the west of George Street in the Reading West parliamentary constituency.
Battle is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated to the west of the town centre, south of the River Thames, and is bordered by Kentwood, Caversham Heights, Thames, Abbey, Coley, Southcote and Norcot wards.
Kentwood is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It consists of the northern part of the suburb of Tilehurst, in the west of Reading, south of the River Thames. The ward is bordered by Caversham Heights and Battle wards to the east, and Norcot and Tilehurst wards to the south. To the west the ward is bordered by the reduced civil parish of Tilehurst in the district of West Berkshire which is the remainder of the larger ancient parish, before the expansion of the Borough of Reading. The ward has schools and churches bearing a Tilehurst, rather than Reading name.
Tilehurst is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It forms part of the larger Reading suburb of Tilehurst, which also includes parts of the borough's Kentwood and Norcot wards, together with the civil parish of Tilehurst Without that is outside the borough boundary in the district of West Berkshire. The ward is bordered, in clockwise order, by Norcot ward, Tilehurst Without civil parish and Kentwood ward. It lies entirely within the Reading West parliamentary constituency.
Elections to Reading Borough Council took place on 22 May 2014, with 15 council seats up for election. The Labour Party repeated their wins of 2012 gaining Church, Katesgrove, Redlands, Kentwood and Caversham wards, giving them a total of 31 Councillors. The Conservative Party lost three seats but gained Peppard ward from an independent. The Liberal Democrats lost two seats but held Tilehurst ward. The Green Party held Park ward including a by-election caused by the resignation of one of their Councillors. UKIP stood a record number of candidates at the election but failed to gain any council seats.
The 2018 Reading Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Reading Borough Council. There were three casual vacancies in Kentwood, Katesgrove and Church wards due to the early retirement of Councillors. The Labour Party held on to control of Reading Borough Council seeing their vote increase in seats across the Reading East constituency but suffering setbacks in the marginal seat of Kentwood where The Conservative Party gained a seat. The Conservatives also succeeded in gaining Tilehurst ward from the Liberal Democrats, reducing the Liberal Democrats to one remaining Councillor. The election was held on the same day as other local elections.
