Reading Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrat group on Reading Borough Council today announced that they are finalising an agreement with the Conservative group to form a coalition in order to take control of Reading Borough Council.

The recent local elections resulted in very little change to the political make-up of the council, although almost two-thirds of the votes cast were for the Liberal Democrats or Conservatives.  Taking note of the initiative of the two parties in national government, the two council groups embarked on a process of negotiation that resulted in this agreement to work together for the good of the town.

The agreement to work as a coalition is driven by a shared desire to deliver change and improve services.  A key objective of the coalition administration will be to put the council finances on a firm footing after many years of Labour mismanagement.

Cllr Kirsten Bayes, Liberal Democrat Group Leader on Reading Borough Council, said:

“The votes cast on 6 May showed Reading residents’ desire for change. This joint administration of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives brings about Reading’s rejection of the old politics of Reading Labour Party.”

“We are aware that the national deficit makes pressure on local public finances immense.  We are absolutely committed to working together to ensure that the hard-pressed residents of Reading get more efficient services.  We agree that ‘more of the same’ with Labour is not the best option for this town.

“It was clear from our discussions that the two groups shared many ideas of bringing positive change to the Town.  There is a shared ambition and energy across our groups to bring some much-needed positive leadership to the council.”

At their council group AGM, Cllr Kirsten Bayes was unanimously re-elected unopposed as Group Leader, and Cllr Daisy Benson as Deputy Leader.

Cllr Gareth Epps was elected as Group Press Officer and Cllr Peter Beard Group Chair.  Katesgrove’s new Liberal Democrat Councillor Rebecca Rye was elected Group Secretary.

The Liberal Democrats gained a seat on the Borough Council in May’s elections, and have now made gains in each of the last four local elections in Reading.  The balance of Reading Borough Council is currently: Labour 19, Conservative 17, Liberal Democrats 9, Green 1.

On Tuesday 11th May the Liberal Democrat Federal Executive and Parliamentary Party approved the coalition agreement negotiated with the Conservative Party.

Both bodies endorsed it by more than a three-quarters majority. The provisions of the ‘triple lock’ procedure approved by conference in 1998 have therefore been satisfied.

Nevertheless, the Federal Executive believes it appropriate to consult the party’s membership on this important matter. The Federal Executive is therefore calling a special conference to enable the party to debate the coalition agreement reached between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party.

The motion endorsing the agreement – though not the agreement itself – is open to amendment. The amendments selected for debate by the Federal Conference Committee will be published late on Saturday 15th May.

The conference will be held in Birmingham on Sunday 16th May 2010.

Apart from welcoming and closing speeches, there is just one item: the debate on the motion submitted by the Federal Executive endorsing the coalition agreement.

In holding this special conference we are demonstrating again than we are a democratic party which listens to and trusts its members. However we vote, we will be making history; we hope you will be there to take part.

For more information on who can register and how please go to the Special Conference Registrations page. Please note this is an event for Party members-only and advance registration is currently only open to those who are voting members of conference.

We would like to say thank you for all the support from both the Reading East and West communities during Election 2010.  The energy and enthusiasm of both our members and other supporters and activists was an inspiration that helped sustain our campaigns.

In both East and West Reading our support grew during the campaign and this in turn translated into a growth in our percentage of votes at the ballot box.  Increasing numbers of people in Reading are sending us the message that they share the Liberal Democrat vision of a different, fairer Britain.

We have been analysing the figures and we think that we have had a staggering result in terms of our vote share and we are proud that we have had such a strong team to present to the electorate. It may not get reported by the press but in the local elections across Reading we managed 26% of the vote which is 3% above the current national average for Lib Dems. We should be a national good news story.

Locally our share of the vote increased in every single ward and have learnt so much. Now that the 2010 campaign is over, we will be starting on the 2011 local election campaign straight away and your support will be welcomed.