The Conservatives have won a seat on Wokingham Borough Council that was previously held by Labour.
Thursday’s by-election in Shinfield saw Jackie Rance take the seat with 49% of the vote – up 10% from the previous election in July.
Labour finished second. They picked up 24.8% of the vote – a decrease of 18.9%. The ruling Liberal Democrats finished in third place with 21.5% – up 3.8%. The Greens finished fourth with 4.7%.
The turnout of 21.5% saw 1,561 votes head to polling stations.
Thursday’s vote took place after Labour’s Sarah Bell resigned from the council after four months in place.
Speaking exclusively to Wokingham Today following the declaration shortly before midnight, Jackie Rance said: “I’m delighted.”
Praising the team that helpled her to victory, she added: “I’ve worked hard for Shinfield before, and I’m planning to continue to do so.”
Pauline Jorgensen, the leader of the Conservative group at Wokingham Borough Council, was delighted with the result.
She told Wokingham Today: “Jackie is a really good candidate. She works extremely hard, and she got a really good reputation in Shinfield.
“I’m also very grateful to the residents of Shinfield who came out to vote despite the disgusting weather.”
Stephen Conway, the leader of the council, said: “This is not an entirely surprising result.
“The Conservatives were in second place. They had one of the three councillors in the ward, and we would have expected, in the current anti-labour mood, for the Conservatives to win this seat.
“We got 16% of the vote in the last local elections an we got 22% this time, so from our point of view we’re moving forward.
Rachel Burgess, leader of the Labour group, said: “It is really disappointing that we didn’t win, but we’ll carry on and it won’t stop us in our work in the community.
“We’re really grateful for the votes that we got, and we express our thanks to everyone that voted Labour.”
As a result of Thursday’s by-election, the number of councillors for each party on Wokingham Borough Council is as follows:
- Liberal Democrats – 26
- Conservative – 20
- Labour – 7
There is one vacancy in Winnersh following the recent death of Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Fishwick.
The date for that by-election has yet to be announced, but is expected to be early in the new year.
