By Matt Rodda
Now that the dust has settled, the full picture of last Thursday’s local elections has become clear. Across England, Wales and Scotland, the Labour Party won over 3,000 council seats, increasing our number of councillors by 108.
By comparison, the Conservatives lost 487 seats – including five in Wokingham, which has denied them a majority on the Council.
I want to congratulate Andy Croy on his result and his re-election to Wokingham Borough after a 12-month absence and Councillor Rachel Burgess on being re-elected in Norreys ward and Majid Nagra who came just 120 votes short in Loddon.
Across the South of England, we now have Labour Councils in Southampton, Worthing and Crawley and made significant steps forward in terms of vote shares in key marginal constituencies.
And in Reading, the Labour Party was returned with an increased majority and the conservative group was reduced to just six councillors.
This set of elections marked a turning point for the Labour Party.
We still have work to do but these results are step forward towards electing a Labour Government.
I want to thank and pay tribute to all the candidates who put themselves forward at this election.
The country, however, cannot wait another two years before that Government is elected. Over the course of this campaign, I knocked hundreds of doors and spoke to voters both at home in Reading and Woodley and in across the Berkshire.
The message I heard on almost every door was clear – real help is needed now to deal with the spiralling cost of living which is causing real hardship on so many people. The cost of fuel for the family car; a fear of the increase in household energy bills happening both now and the increase likely at the end of the year and inflation driving up the price of food has put a squeeze on wages.
For pensioners and those on Universal credit – the pinch is even more acute as the Government scrapped the triple lock and removed the £20 uplift that really was the difference for some families between heating and eating.
To add insult to injury, while we all feel the pinch, the oil and gas giants are reporting record profits totalling billions of pounds – and the Government is claiming record VAT receipts from our fuel bills and yet the help promised is too little, too late.
A windfall tax; a cut in VAT and additional support to those most in need would drastically improve the finances of millions of families but the Government resists these measures for reasons unknown.
However, while the Government drags its feet, I know that the thousands of Labour Councillors elected last week will be in their communities; assisting those in need and providing the help and support that is needed.
Labour Councils and Labour Councillors make a difference. Now we must get to work.
Matt Rodda is the MP for Reading East
