There are two new faces on Evendons ward in Wokingham, thanks to the local elections held on Thursday, May 2 … but readers with long memories will find them familiar.
Cllr Mark Ashwell has been re-elected to his old ward – but as a Lib Dem rather than a Conservative.
Joining him is former Women’s Equality Party campaigner Lou Timlin, who won a seat alongside Adrian Mather, who currently serves as the borough’s deputy mayor.
The trio each polled nearly double that of their Conservative challengers, meaning the ward is now a Lib Dem stronghold.
Cllr Timlin said: “I’m delighted (to have been elected) and delighted for my colleagues as well.
“It’s been fantastic to be part of a team effort and I am really looking forward to getting stuck in and working for residents.
“Thank you for everyone who voted for us.”
And Cllr Ashwell said the result was interesting and a homecoming for him.
“I’ve won a seat back that I lost back in the day, and I have come home to the Liberal Democrats,” he said. “I can’t wait to get back to work.
“We are going to form a team in Evendons, we will consolidate that … start small, and work our way up.”
Cllr Mather thanked “every single voter that voted Liberal Democrat”.
He added: “We had a huge vote in Evendons for the Liberal Democrats, which we really appreciate.
“We understand the legacy we’ve been given by (deceased councillor) Helen Power and Sarah Kerr (who stepped down at this election). It is a fantastic legacy. We want to build on that.
“We want to make our actions more visible. At the moment some of these are not really visible to residents.
“When residents say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ and we have to give complicated answers, that’s really not the right thing to be doing.
“We need to demonstrate we’re actually working for the residents.”
