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FOR WOKINGHAM Conservatives, they are the magnificent seven: the new councillors elected to the borough council, giving them a majority.
On their way to victory in last Thursday’s local elections, Shahid Younis regained the Bulmershe and Whitegates seat he lost in 2019, kicking out Labour leader Andy Croy in the process. The party regained Loddon and Finchampstead South after the seats switched – to independent or Lib Dem – during the past four years.
Newcomer Sam Akhtar was elected in Charvil, while Norman Jorgensen won a seat in Maiden Erlegh, two years after he was voted out.
Cllr Jorgensen is not the only spouse to be given the seal of approval by voters: Rebecca Margetts won in Finchampstead South.
Also coming into the council for the first time is Jackie Rance, who takes over Charlotte Haitham-Taylor’s Shinfield South seat for the party.
In Norreys ward, Phil Cunnington beat Labour’s Nick Fox to claim former mayor Malcolm Richards’ seat.
And Anne Chadwick was elected into Loddon, another newcomer.
The results mean the Conservatives have 31 borough council seats, three over the majority of 28.
READ MORE: Wokingham election results from across the borough
There were comfortable wins for council leader John Halsall, and executive members Wayne Smith (Hurst), Charles Margetts (Finchampstead North). Cllr Pauline Helliar-Symons enjoyed a strong victory in Wokingham Without, and Cllr Pauline Jorgensen saw off a spirited challenge from the Lib Dems’ Wes Budd to hold on to her Hillside seat.
However, it didn’t all go the Conservatives’ way.
The Lib Dems took the scalp of executive member UllaKarin Clark in Emmbrook ward with Morag Malvern triumphing, while former council leader Julian McGhee-Sumner failed to win a seat in Wescott. Peter Dennis was elected by voters.
And in Evendons ward, Wokingham Town Council Conservative leader Daniel Hinton was pipped to the post by Ian Shenton.
The Lib Dems also saw leader Lyndsey Ferris win comfortably in Twyford, with the same outcome for deputy leader Clive Jones in Hawkedon. Rachelle Shepherd-Dubey saw off a spirited challenge from Bernadette Mitra to hold on to her Winnersh seat.
The new faces ensured that the Conservatives held steady, losing three seats but gaining three, meaning that they have 31 seats. The Lib Dems have 18, Labour three and two independents.
READ MORE: Lib Dems aim to be a strong, strong voice for Wokingham residents
Cllr John Halsall was pleased with the polls.
“I’m delighted,” he said. “Obviously, I’m disappointed that we lost UllaKarin Clark in Emmbrook and we didn’t get Julian (McGhee-Sumner) back in.”
The party, he added, had seen a positive swing over its 2019 polling.
“In the overall numbers, we are substantially ahead of our rivals,” he said.
“Our central message is to ensure that Wokingham borough continues to be a great, safe and happy place to live, work and bring up a family.”
He paid tribute to the councillors who stepped down, including Diane King, Charlotte Haitham-Taylor, Ken Miall and Oliver Whittle: “Thank you to all of you”.
Cllr Halsall felt that the elections showed what he had set out to achieve while he had been leader.
“My ambition was to create a unified team of the Tory group. I’ve always emphasised this,” he said.
“The four Conservative associations have worked more closely together.
I believe our success is due entirely to working as a team, despite the unprecedented times of the pandemic.”
READ MORE: ‘Seats are only lent to politicians’ says ousted Wokingham Labour leader Andy Croy
This was backed up by Bracknell MP James Sunderland, who met with the new Bracknell Forest councillors as well as Cllr Rebecca Margetts and Cllr Helliar-Symons at Trilakes Park in Sandhurst on Monday.
“A massive well done,” he said to them on being elected.
Their election, he added, was about supporting local people.
“The Conservatives are delivering both locally and nationally and the result locally is a reflection of national politics,” he said, adding that the byelection result in Hartlepool was “a seismic shift” and that voters switching to the Conservatives was “happening all over the north”.
The votes were cast last Thursday, but not counted until Saturday, using covid-safe protocols to protect the tellers.
This included limited the number of people allowed into Loddon Valley Leisure Centre, and holding the count over two rooms with strict social distancing measures in place. Facemasks were worn at all times.
The new council will meet for the first time on Thursday, May 20.
