2019 Wokingham Borough Council election

The 2019 Wokingham Borough Council election took place on Thursday 2 May 2019. That was the same day as other United Kingdom local elections in order to elect members of Wokingham Unitary Council in Berkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election.

2019 Wokingham Borough Council election

← 2018 2 May 2019 2021 →
18 seats, one-third of all council seats.
Con LD Lab Leader Julian McGhee-Sumner Lindsay Ferris Andy Croy Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour Leader since 14 December 2018.[1] 2016[2] 3 May 2018 Leader's seat Wescott Twyford Bulmershe and Whitegates Last election 42 seats, 45.1% 8 seats, 31.7% 3 seats, 18.8% Seats needed 15 19 24   Ind Grn WEP Leader N/A Louise Tomlin Party Independent Green Women's Equality Leader since N/A Leader's seat N/A Running in Evendons Last election 2 seats, 3.3% 0 seats, 0.6% New Party Seats needed 25 27 27
Ward results map for Wokingham Borough Council
Incumbent Leader of the Council Julian McGhee-Sumner Conservative

Before the election, the composition of the council was:

• Conservative 41
• Liberal Democrat 8
• Labour 3
• Independent 2

Background

Since the previous round of elections in 2018, there had been 1 by-election, in Evendons in February 2019, which had been won by the Liberal Democrats.^[3] Richard Dolinski resigned from the Conservative Party to sit as an independent as a result of an internal vote of no confidence being put forward and subsequently passed against Cllr Charlotte Haitham-Taylor which led to her resignation as the Leader of the Council^[4]

The composition of the council before the election was as follows:

↓

41	8	3	2
CON	LD	LAB	IND

After the election, the composition of the council became:

↓

31	16	4	3
CON	LD	LAB	IND

Election result

2019 Wokingham Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	8	10	44.4	23	31	57.4	14,625	37.3	–7.8
	Liberal Democrats	8	8	44.4	8	16	29.6	15,444	39.4	+7.7
	Labour	1	1	5.6	3	4	7.4	6,449	16.4	–2.4
	Independent	1	1	5.6	2	3	5.5	1,529	3.9	+3.3
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	955	2.4	+1.8
	Women's Equality	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	156	0.3	New

A total of 39,148 votes were cast for candidates.

Ward results

Barkham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Kaiser	457	49.6	16.5
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Tuck	391	42.4	27.9
	Labour	Peyman Jahromi	74	8.0	3.5
Majority			66	7.2	44.4
Turnout			922	33.0	38.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

There were 17 spoiled ballots.

Bulmershe and Whitegates

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Shirley Boyt	1,227	42.4	13.4
	Conservative	Mohammed Younis	1,096	37.9	0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel Harman	570	19.7	5.1
Majority			131	4.5	4.6
Turnout			2,893	42.0	28.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 49 spoiled ballot papers.

Coronation

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alison Swaddle	1,076	59.9	2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Barton	331	18.4	3.2
	Labour	Ian Hills	194	10.8	1.4
	Green	Kathy Smith	194	10.8	5.1
Majority			745	41.5	0.3
Turnout			1,795	42.0	33.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

There were 21 spoiled ballot papers.

Emmbrook

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Rachel Bishop-Firth	1,827	61.6	26.9
	Conservative	Philip Mirfin	923	31.1	12.1
	Labour	Brent Lees	216	10.8	1.1
Majority			904	30.5	22.0
Turnout			2,966	44.0	31.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 16 spoiled ballot papers.

Evendons

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Mather	1,259	48.5	28.0
	Conservative	Daniel Hinton	644	24.8	26.0
	Independent	Lynn Forbes	388	15.0	15.0
	Women's Equality	Louise Timlin	156	6.0	6.0
	Labour	Tim Lloyd	147	5.7	5.1
Majority			615	23.7	6.6
Turnout			2,594	37.0	35.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 16 spoiled ballots.

Hawkedon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Mickleburgh	1,353	56.4	25.3
	Conservative	Tim Holton	764	31.8	13.7
	Labour	Doreen Osborne	282	11.8	0.0
Majority			589	24.6	10.2
Turnout			2,399	36.0	32.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 25 spoiled ballots.

Hillside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Smith	1,425	51.2	28.5
	Conservative	Norman Jorgensen	1,046	37.6	12.9
	Labour	Hari Sarasan	310	11.1	2.2
Majority			379	13.6	14.2
Turnout			2,781	44.0	28.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 44 spoiled ballots.

Loddon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Abdul Loyes	1,124	47.9	1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Carol Jewell	807	34.4	16.6
	Labour	Mary Young	418	17.8	0.9
Majority			317	13.5	17.6
Turnout			2,349	33.0	36.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

There were 42 spoiled ballots.

Maiden Erlegh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tahir Maher	1,056	37.0	19.0
	Conservative	David Chopping	968	33.9	13.7
	Labour	Andrew Gray	830	29.1	10.8
Majority			88	3.1	26.2
Turnout			2,854	46.0	25.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 49 spoiled ballots.

Norreys

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gregor Murray	1,116	40.5	11.2
	Labour	Nick Fox	1,081	39.2	27.3
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Bishop	561	20.3	3.3
Majority			35	1.3	33.4
Turnout			2,758	37.0	32.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

There were 59 spoiled ballots.

Shinfield North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Parry Batth	300	41.8	1.3
	Labour	James Reid	280	39.0	5.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Newton	138	19.2	12.0
Majority			20	2.8	4.4
Turnout			718	30.0	30.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

There were 11 spoiled ballots.

Shinfield South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jim Frewin	1,141	49.5	49.5
	Conservative	Anthony Pollock	709	30.8	26.4
	Labour	Marcus McDowell	229	9.9	2.4
	Green	Hilary Murdoch	226	9.8	2.9
Majority			432	18.7	25.1
Turnout			2,305	34.0	35.0
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 11 spoiled ballots.

Sonning

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Firmager	587	58.8	7.0
	Green	Brian O'Callaghan	190	19.0	8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Tom McCann	128	12.8	12.8
	Labour	Philippa Hills	94	9.4	4.0
Majority			397	39.8	12.6
Turnout			999	40.0	33.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

There were 12 spoiled ballots.

South Lake

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Laura Blumenthal	798	44.2	3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Beth Rowland	757	42.0	11.6
	Labour	Tony Skuse	249	13.8	1.4
Majority			41	2.2	8.1
Turnout			1,804	41.0	33.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

There were 27 spoiled ballots.

Twyford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Conway	1,584	73.0	34.0
	Conservative	John Jarvis	493	22.7	18.3
	Labour	Charles Wickeden	94	4.3	43.9
Majority			1,091	50.3	48.3
Turnout			2,171	48.0	28.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 19 spoiled ballots.

Wescott

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Maria Gee	755	35.1	17.3
	Conservative	Julian McGhee-Sumner	723	33.6	17.3
	Labour	James Box	503	23.4	11.9
	Green	Rema Heffernan	173	8.0	2.7
Majority			32	1.5	31.6
Turnout			2,154	42.0	30.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 27 spoiled ballots.

Winnersh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Fishwick	1,609	64.7	31.6
	Conservative	Philip Houldsworth	567	22.8	18.8
	Green	Stephen Lloyd	172	6.9	2.9
	Labour	Steve Stanton	140	5.6	4.2
Majority			1,042	41.9	33.4
Turnout			2,488	34.0	33.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

There were 24 spoiled ballots.

Wokingham Without

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Bowring	1,184	52.1	8.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jordan Montgomery	893	39.3	27.7
	Labour	Jayne Donnelly	297	8.7	4.7
Majority			291	12.8	35.6
Turnout			2,274	37.0	37.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

There were 55 spoiled ballots.