A NEW opinion poll shows that Sir John Redwood might have a fight on his hands to retain the Wokingham parliamentary seat he has held since 1987.
The veteran MP is looking to hold the seat for the Conservatives at the forthcoming General Election on Thursday, December 12, but Dr Phillip Lee – who became a Liberal Democrat earlier this autumn – is breathing down his neck.
The poll, conducted for the Liberal Democrats by Survation, suggesting that 42% of those polled would be opting for Sir John – down from the 57% he polled in the 2017 General Election.
But the Liberal Democrats would see their share of the vote soar. The poll suggested that 38% of Wokingham voters would support Dr Lee, up from the 16% share the party had two years ago.
Labour would see its polling go down from the 25% it achieved in 2017 to 12%.
The polls also indicate that 5% of voters in Wokingham would chose The Brexit Party if they stand and 3% would be Green party voters.
The question that Survation asked was: “In the upcoming general election, if the following candidates stood in your Wokingham constituency, which party would you vote for?”
The company polled 405 people by telephone and these figures are based on the respondents who are likely to vote, with undecideds and refused removed.
The survey also asked how likely people would be to vote in the election.
Overall, 64% of respondents said they would be voting: 67% of men and 61% of women canvassed.
Going across the ages, 62% of people aged 18-34 said they would be voting, but 61% of people aged 35 to 54 are looking to get to the polling station. As is usual, it is the 55+ category that are most likely to vote on December 12: 69% of people said they would be.
When it came to party allegiance, 76% of Lib Dem supporters and 71% of Conservative voters said they would be taking part in the General Election, Green party supporters came next with 68%, 66% of Brexit party voters are likely to vote and 61% of Labour supporters are planning on taking part.
Of those who are currently undecided, 61% said they intend to vote in the General Election.
Survation carried out the polling from Friday, November 1 through to Monday, November 4.
Who is standing in Wokingham?
So far, just three candidates have been announced for the Wokingham parliamentary seat: Sir John Redwood for the Conservatives, Dr Phillip Lee for the Liberal Democrats and Dr Annette Medhurst for Labour.
Closing date for nominations is Thursday, November 14.
Wokingham’s four seats
Wokingham borough has four parliamentary constituencies: Bracknell, Maidenhead, Reading East, and Wokingham. Each are distinct. Here is a bit more about it:
