Quote of the day 7th December 2024

“This is not an entirely surprising result."

Stephen Conway, the Lib Dem leader of Wokingham council, speaking to Wokingham Today about a by-election this week in the Shinfield ward of that council in which Conservative candidate Jackie Rance gained the seat from Labour with 49% of the vote and a massive Labour to Conservative swing sine May this year.

Congratulations to Councillor Jackie Rance on her election.

Labour loses Wokingham council Shinfield by-election in disaster for Keir Starmer | Politics | News | Express.co.uk

The Conservative vote was up by ten percentage points since May while Labour who had won two of the three seats available in the ward earlier this year with an average of 43% of the vote slumped to less than 25%.

It is tempting to speculate on what the Labour government might have done to lose 18 percentage poitns of vote share in a few months.

Taking Winter Fuel Payments away from ten million pensioners, breaking a promise to farmers not to change the inheritance tax rules which affected them, breaking the promise to students which Starmer made when standing to be leader of the Labour party to scrap student tuition fees and increasing them instead, breaking their promise not to increase National Insurance contibutions and instead hitting business with the largest tax hike in history - all these might have something to do with it.

However this was also a local election and people will also have been taking local factors into account.

Councillor Rance, who had previously served on the council for the ward of Shinfield South which has since been abolished in boundary changes, was quoted in the Reading Chronicle as saying to electors 

"I was very active on your behalf maintaining my promise to help Shinfield as best I can deal with its burgeoning growth.

"I have assisted residents in social housing with chronic leaks and mould issues; responded to calls regarding horrendous flooding; campaigned to keep weekly bins collections; argued against the scrapping of public litter bins; raised awareness of the need for crossings outside schools; and the requirement for a tarmac pavement from Lailey Path to the nursery school; argued about parking charge increases; pressed for money to be spent on the dreadful potholes; and shared the concern over Oakbank School and schooling in general."

Conservative back on council after Wokingham by-election | Reading Chronicle

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