The current local election is shaping up to be the nastiest I can remember in more than thirty years involvement in campaigning.
Robust debate is one thing; personal attacks on sitting councillors is another. Unfortunately, one party in these elections is specialising in such personal attacks and has brought negative politics to a new low. Its technique is simple, and highly destructive. It has trawled through social media over the last year or so and seized on every negative comment and sought to bring them together to create a narrative of grievance. Achievements of opponents are belittled. Nothing constructive is offered, just negativity.
No doubt this negativity will appeal to some people, but I do not believe that most voters in Wokingham Borough want it. My view is not just based on wishful thinking, but on conversations with the people whose judgement matters – the voters. Over the last few weeks, I have spoken on the doorstep with nearly 1,000 local residents across the borough. Most dislike negative campaigning and welcome a more positive and honest approach to the challenges that the council faces.
Many recognize that Wokingham Borough Council has done well to weather the financial storm that has hit it with the loss of a significant reduction in its central government support for services. While other councils near us have gone into effective insolvency, Wokingham has set a balanced budget and improved some important local services.
We are investing more in the borough’s roads, in new school buildings, in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities provision, and in bus subsidies, to enable services to be extended and improved. We have acquired new care homes for the elderly and secured more affordable homes for those priced out of the housing market. While other councils have closed libraries, we have opened a new one and extended the hours of our main library in Wokingham town.
All this, and much more, as many people appreciate, has been achieved in the most challenging of financial situations.
Good financial management has been the key to our ability to out-perform other local authorities. Amongst those residents that I have spoken with there is an appreciation of the council’s success in improving efficiency. In 2024, an external assessment rated Wokingham as the fifth most productive council in England in terms of outcomes achieved per pounds spent. This year, the same assessment saw Wokingham go up to second place.
Perhaps most positively of all, residents across the borough, from Wargrave to Wokingham Without, and Woodley to Hurst, appreciate the efforts made by the council to help create a cohesive and inclusive community, where everyone, regardless of who they are, can have the opportunity to contribute and realise their potential. Almost everyone I have met over the last few weeks recognizes that inclusive communities are happier and more successful communities, as we all benefit when the talent in our midst is given the chance to express itself.
For our part, we Liberal Democrats will continue to fight a positive election campaign. Despite the personal attacks and the negativity of some of our opponents, we remain convinced that most of the people of Wokingham Borough prefer positivity to negativity and hope to hatred. In conversations the length and breadth of the borough I have been struck by the realism of most residents. They know that times are tough and that difficult decisions are necessary to balance the books and ensure continued financial sustainability. And so they are putting their faith in the Liberal Democrats, who have a track record in the last four years of managing difficult situations, and who have shown that they can keep the council solvent and are ambitious to improve our borough. I thank them for their support.
By Cllr Stephen Conway
