2018 Wokingham Borough Council election

The 2018 Wokingham Borough Council election took place on Thursday 3 May 2018. That was the same day as other United Kingdom local elections in order to elect members of Wokingham Unitary Council in Berkshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed comfortably in overall control of the council.[1]

2018 Election Results for Wokingham Borough. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow, Labour in Red and independent in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2018.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 42
• Liberal Democrat 8
• Labour 3
• Independent 1

Background

A total of 60 candidates contested the 18 seats which were up for election.[2]

Issues in the election included:

• Some recent controversial planning applications
• Wokingham Town Centre Regeneration

Since the last round of elections, there had been 1 by-election in Emmbrook in 2017, which was won by the Liberal Democrats. Also, 2 Councillors had left the Conservatives, with one joining the Liberal Democrats and one standing as an Independent.

Election result

The Conservatives retained control of the council.[3] The Liberal Democrats held two out of the three seats they defended, retaining their seats in Emmbrook and Winnersh, but lost a seat in South Lake to the Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats gained 2 seats in both Hawkedon and Evendons. Labour gained 2 seats in Bulmershe and Whitegates & Norreys. The Conservatives gained 1 seat in South Lake, but lost 4 seats in Evendons, Norreys, Bulmershe & Whitegates and Hawkedon. 1 seat was held by an Independent.

Wokingham Local Election Result 2018[4]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	42	1	4	-3	77.7%	45.1%	18,325	-7.6%
	Liberal Democrats	8	2	1	1	14.8%	31.7%	12,888	+10.6%
	Labour	3	2	0	2	5.5%	18.8%	7,624	+5.3%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.6%	247	-5.3%
	Independent	1	0	0	0	1.8%	3.3%	1,347	+1.3%

There were a total of 40,551 votes cast, including 120 spoiled ballots.

Ward results

Arborfield[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gary Cowan	540	65.6	+65.6
	Conservative	David Edmonds	233	28.3	-30.6
	Labour	Chris Everett	48	5.8	+5.8
Majority			307	37.3	+4.6
Turnout			822	41%	+4.7
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing	17.5

Bulmershe & Whitegates[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Carl Doran	1,357	44.5	+5.3
	Conservative	Majid Nagra	1167	38.2	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel Harman	371	12.1	-7.6
	Green	Brian O'Callaghan	143	4.6	+0.4
Majority			190	6.2
Turnout			3047	43%	+1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	3.8

Coronation[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Keith Baker	1,298	66.6	+10
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Barton	328	16.8	+1.8
	Labour	Ian Hills	315	16.1	+4.1
Majority			970	49.8	+8.3
Turnout			1947	44	-31
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.0

Emmbrook[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Imogen Shepherd-DuBey	1,829	57.2	-2.5
	Conservative	Jack Beresford	1084	33.9	+0.6
	Labour	Peyman Jahromi	274	8.5	+5.5
Majority			745	23.3	-3.1
Turnout			3197	47	+7.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-0.5

Evendons[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Power	1,375	46.5	11.2
	Conservative	Mark Ashwell	1198	40.5	-2.2
	Labour	Annette Medhurst	369	12.5	-0.7
Majority			177	5.9	+0.9
Turnout			2952	41	9
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	4.5

Finchampstead North[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Daniel Sargeant	1,086	57.1	-12.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Cornish	611	32.1	+21.0
	Green	Martyn Foss	104	5.4	-2.8
	Labour	David Appleyard	97	5.1	-6.0
Majority			475	25.0	-20.2
Turnout			1899	44	6%
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.2

Finchampstead South[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Weeks	978	55.5	+4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Cornish	581	33.0	+12.1
	Labour	Hayley Rentall	194	11.0	+1.5
Majority			397	22.5	-7.1
Turnout			1759	40	+9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.4

Hawkedon[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Hare	1,096	44.8	-3.9
	Conservative	Michael Firmager	975	39.8	+1.7
	Labour	Brent Lees	369	15.0	+1.8
Majority			121	4.9	-5.7
Turnout			2445	35	3%
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	-1.1

Hillside[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Smith	1,233	44.0	-7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Sue Smith	1166	41.6	10.6
	Labour	Timothy Lloyd	394	14.0	3.1
Majority			67	2.3	-18.7
Turnout			2798	43.0	6.0%
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.3

Loddon[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bill Soane	1,358	57.7	+4.9
	Labour	Rick Lay	525	22.1	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Tom McCann	477	20.1	-8.9
Majority			833	35.1	6.1
Turnout			2372	33	4%
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.2

Maiden Erlegh[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Guy Grandison	1,141	40.9	-5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Tahir Maher	885	31.7	+4.3
	Labour	Nadine Masseron	750	26.8	+8.2
Majority			256	9.1	-17.4
Turnout			2789	40	8%
	Conservative hold		Swing	-2.5

Norreys[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Burgess	1,157	38.1	+23.3
	Conservative	David Lee	1084	35.7	-8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Morgan Rise	405	13.3	-3.8
	Independent	Philip Cunnington	384	12.6	+7.9
Majority			73	2.4	+24.6
Turnout			3035	40	8%
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	7.4

Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Graham Howe	1,150	67.5	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Yonni Wilson	370	21.7	+6.0
	Labour	Stuart Crainer	175	10.2	-1.5
Majority			780	45.8	-3.1
Turnout			1703	31%	3
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.45

Shinfield South[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barrie Patman	810	40.2	-22.4
	Independent	Jim Freewin	423	21.0	+21.0
	Labour	Marcus McDowell	416	20.6	+6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Johnson	359	17.8	+6.2
Majority			387	19.2	-29.6
Turnout			2011	31	+4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.7

South Lake[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jenny Cheng	801	40.3	-0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Beth Rowland	682	34.3	+4.1
	Labour	Tony Skuse	497	25.0	+9.9
Majority			119	5.9	-4.3
Turnout			1987	45	-29
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	1.9

Swallowfield[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stuart Munro	553	68.4	+11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Steven Scarrott	134	16.5	+8.4
	Labour	James Reid	118	14.6	14.6
Majority			419	51.8	+16.8
Turnout			808	35	0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.7

Winnersh[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Prue Bray	1,646	62.2	+15.5
	Conservative	Ethan Stacey	695	26.2	+5.6
	Labour	Steve Stanton	297	11.2	-5.9
Majority			951	35.9	+21.0
Turnout			2644	36	1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.5

Wokingham Without[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angus Ross	1,481	63.3	-1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jordan Montgomery	573	24.5	+16.4
	Labour	Yvonne Hignell	272	11.6	-1.0
Majority			908	38.8	-11.1
Turnout			2336	38	-11.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.5

References

1. "Borough Council Election Results 2018". Wokingham Borough Council. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
2. "Wokingham election candidates 2018". The Wokingham Paper. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
3. "Final results for Wokingham Borough Council elections 2018". Wokingham Borough Council. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
4. "Borough Council Election Results 2018". The Wokingham Paper. Retrieved 4 May 2018.