June 2026. Update after the May 2026 elections.
Broadly speaking, everything we say in the original post remains valid. To keep the numbers up to date though, the link below takes to you to the latest Reading Council election results.
Original Post: May 2022. Local elections loom. A time to reflect on English politics.
These are turbulent times in English – and, indeed, British – politics. Elections bring the turbulence into sharp relief.
To think just about local government, Reading has been under Labour control for years. Thus, you have to think about how Labour’s ruled Caversham and Emmer Green. And whatever part of Caversham or Emmer Green you live in, there’s a lot to be … what? Well, we suspect there’s a lot to be suspicious about.
We covered the reasons why we say that here –
– there are more details here –
– and there’s a potted background history of all this here –
It’s ugly stuff. BUT don’t imagine that makes us Tory or Lib Dem supporters. Far from it. We think the plain truth is that all ‘our’ main parties are, collectively, part of the establishment. They coexist in relation to each other. And the establishment is now wholly inappropriate.
We need to move on from the shortcomings and failures of one party or the other, now or in the past. The world is a very different place now in comparison to when the ideologies that inform those parties came into being. We need new values, new ideologies, arrived at in the light of the new realities we all face.
You can read more about why we think this on the Caversham’s parent site, Unstated –
As for now and how to vote in these local elections, that can only be a personal choice. We would urge everyone to get out and vote. And we would urge everyone to think afresh – before it is too late.
There are details of the local candidates here:
If you don’t recognise the wards, the details are here:
And the Reading Council ‘background page’ (from which some of the links above, come from) is here:
