2026 Reading Borough Council election

2026 Reading Borough Council election
7 May 2026 (2026-05-07)
16 out of 48 seats to Reading Borough Council
25 seats needed for a majority
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Liz Terry Rob White Raj Singh
Party Labour Green Conservative
Last election 32 seats, 47.4% 8 seats, 20.8% 4 seats, 20.1%
Current seats 32[1] 8 3
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader James Moore Clarence Mitchell
Party Liberal Democrats Reform Independent
Last election 3 seats, 10.3% 0 seats, 0.5% 1 seat, 0.1%
Current seats 3 1 1
Incumbent Leader

Liz Terry
Labour



Main article: Reading Borough Council elections

The 2026 Reading Borough Council election will be held on 7 May 2026, alongside the other local elections across the United Kingdom being held on the same day, to elect 16 of 48 members of Reading Borough Council.[2]

Due to ongoing local government reorganisation, this will be the final election to Reading Borough Council before it is abolished and replaced by a successor unitary authority. Elections to the successor authority are due to take place in 2027.

Council composition

After 2024 election Before 2026 election
Party Seats Party Seats
Labour 32 Labour 32
Green 8 Green 8
Conservative 4 Conservative 3
Liberal Democrats 3 Liberal Democrats 3
Reform 0 Reform 1
Independent 1 Independent 1

Changes 2024–2026:

  • January 2026: Clarence Mitchell (Conservative) joins Reform[3]

Summary

Background

In 2024, Labour retained control of the council.[4][5]

Election result

2026 Reading Borough Council election[1]
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Labour 23
  Green 5
  Conservative 2
  Liberal Democrats 2
  Reform 0
  Independent 0

Incumbents

Ward Incumbent councillor Party Re-standing
Abbey Karen Rowland Labour
Battle Sarah Hacker Independent
Caversham Jacopo Lanzoni Labour
Caversham Heights Isobel Ballsdon Conservative
Church Ruth McEwan Labour
Coley Ellie Emberson Labour
Emmer Green Clarence Mitchell[a] Reform
Katesgrove Louise Keane Green
Kentwood Glenn Dennis Labour
Norcot Jo Lovelock Labour
Park Rob White Green
Redlands Kathryn McCann Green
Southcote Deborah Edwards Labour
Thames Adele Barnett-Ward Labour
Tilehurst Meri O'Connell Liberal Democrats
Whitley Rachel Eden Labour

Notes

  1. ^ Originally elected as a Conservative, but defected to Reform in January 2026.

References

  1. ^ a b "Reading Council Composition: Latest". opencouncildata.co.uk. Open Council Data UK. Archived from the original on 7 February 2026. Retrieved 7 February 2026.
  2. ^ Team, RBC Digital. "Elections and voting". reading.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  3. ^ Aldridge, James (24 January 2026). "Colleagues react as Conservative in Reading defects to become first Reform UK councillor". Reading Today Online. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  4. ^ "LISTED: All the results from Reading's Local Elections 2024". Reading Chronicle. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  5. ^ "Reading result - Local Elections 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.