One of the growing problems of our times is that faith in the democratic process is being undermined by politicians who make promises at election time and fail to deliver.
Take claims made about redeveloping local hospitals. During a debate on BBC Radio Berkshire during the 2024 General Election, the now MP Labour for Earley and Woodley unequivocally promised that under a Labour Government the RBH redevelopment would begin before the next General Election in 2029. Since coming to power over eighteen months ago, the Labour Government has delayed this programme, pushing back building work by at least a decade, or to put it another way two parliaments. In April 2025 our MP voted “no” on a parliamentary motion to speed up delivery of a replacement for the Royal Berkshire Hospital despite her earlier promise to residents during the campaign.
Then there are promises made about taxation. Nationally Labour promised not to raise taxes on “working people”, yet during the last Budget in November, they froze Income Tax thresholds, pushing up tax for many across the country. Labour increased Employers National Insurance, hitting business owners. This tax increase has also affected employees. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said that a third of businesses facing higher National Insurance bills would cut jobs.
Elected representatives making unrealistic promises is particularly harmful in local government, where people are often already disengaged from politics and turn out tends to be lower than in national elections.
In Kent, the Reform Party won control of the County Council claiming there was plenty of unnecessary spending they would do away with. The national party’s ‘DOGE’ unit entered the council aiming to make cuts. Despite outlandish pre-election claims of “debt” and “gross financial mismanagement,” the reality seems to have been very different.
To quote a Reform Kent Cabinet Member: “Everyone thought we’d come in and there were going to be these huge costs we could cut away but there just aren’t.” She added, “We just want more money”. It turns out that Conservatives were running a lean and efficient council.
It’s the same story here in Wokingham Borough. The Liberal Democrats came into power in 2022 claiming that there was a financial black hole. Instead, the Council admitted that the Conservatives had left high reserves, had reduced debt, and in the words of the Chief Finance Officer, under the Conservatives “the Council has worked over many years on the highest standards of financial management”.
Wokingham Liberal Democrat Executive councillors have also made irresponsible claims about bankruptcy, redundancies, and cuts. This forced senior Council officers to send out emails to staff to counter scaremongering.
It continues away from finance. A number of Liberal Democrat councillors stood for election pledging to stop housing development on sites around the Borough, including Hall Farm. Wokingham’s then Liberal Democrat Council Leader and now MP, Clive Jones, led the charge. What happened? The same Liberal Democrat councillors voted to approve new houses being built on these very sites.
If we have any hope of restoring people’s faith in democracy and local government, this needs to stop. Under my leadership, Wokingham Borough Conservatives will never make a promise we knowingly can’t keep. It’s time for a change, ensuring we deliver sensible policies in residents’ interests.
