Post by batman on Dec 18, 2023 23:09:42 GMT
edited to take into account the 2024 general & local elections etc.
WOKINGHAM
Wokingham, like Woking in Surrey, is named after a man who lived centuries ago called Wocca (two different Woccas, though, for two different towns). It has given its name to a constituency since 1950. For the first few decades it included, indeed came to be rather dominated by, the burgeoning New Town of Bracknell. Since 1983, however, when Bracknell became the main basis for the new, or rather reconstituted, constituency of East Berkshire (it acquired a seat named entirely after it in 1997), Wokingham itself has been the largest town in its eponymous constituency. Up to 2024, the constituency took in territory close in towards the south of Reading, but in the boundary changes Berkshire gained an extra seat in the centre of the ceremonial county, into which much of this territory has now gone. In its place came Finchampstead, Wokingham Without (which has always seemed an odd omission from the constituency up to now) , Charvil, Twyford, Hurst, Wargrave and the rural and semi-rural area in between. Some of this territory is almost eastern outer Reading suburbia, or perhaps more accurately outer satellite village, but mostly these are separate villages and small towns. Effectively, this has transformed Wokingham from being a constituency which is mostly south of Reading to one which is mostly east of Reading. There is a Wokingham unitary authority, but it is not coterminous with the parliamentary seat, which after these changes still continues to exclude some elements of the Wokingham unitary, though not as many as previously. Wokingham is not a tiny town, but is no metropolis either, and it therefore follows that quite a large part of its constituency is fairly rural. Farming, however, is not a major element in the local economy; the constituency's proximity to both Reading and London means that there are many commuters in what is frequently referred to as part of the stockbroker belt. The relatively rural peace and quiet makes this largely a desirable, and expensive, place to live.
Wokingham is not a gritty or deprived constituency, indeed very much the opposite. One of the most publicised social problems there has been is that it is such a desirable place to live that the key workers needed for schools, the NHS and other vital services cannot, in many cases, easily afford to buy or rent property in the area. In a number of studies, the constituency has come last, or close to last, in terms of levels of deprivation in Britain. With this level of prosperity, it is not surprising that up to 2024 politically it was always dominated, particularly at parliamentary level, by the Conservative Party, and from the seat's creation until then there were only 3 MPs, all Conservatives. However, the last two of these could hardly be more different in terms of their alignment within their party. The member from 1959 until his retirement in 1987, Sir William van Straubenzee, was a Thatcher-sceptic and pro-comprehensive-schools centrist; but his successor, Sir John Redwood, vies perhaps only with Sir William Cash for the distinction of being the longest-standing Eurosceptic figure within his party, and has always been associated with its fervently pro-Thatcher right wing. He announcement his retirement after the calling of the general election in May 2024. For many years Labour was unrepresented on the local authority, or before that had a solitary member. Recently the party has taken to winning Bulmershe & Whitegates ward, noted for its strong student population; however, that ward is not included in this constituency, but one ward that is, Norreys, elected a Labour councillor with a surprisingly wide margin in the 2022 local elections and voted Labour again in 2023 and 2024. This is one of the wards in the town of Wokingham itself, and while hardly poor does score a little higher on deprivation indices. However, for several decades now the Conservatives' principal opposition both in the constituency and in local elections has been the Liberal Democrats, who have even at times gained control of the council. The Tories have tended to be strongest in the wards closest in towards Reading, but the boundary changes now exclude some of those areas closer to that large town where the Liberal Democrats have done increasingly well in recent years, and effectively substitute them for areas where the Conservatives retain greater strength, although Twyford, which has some history as partially a railway town, has elected Liberal Democrat councillors consistently for some years, often by large margins.
For a long time the Liberal Democrats' success in some local elections did not really transfer to the parliamentary seat. In 1997, when the local borough council was in Liberal Democrat hands, John Redwood had no trouble at all, even in such a disastrous year for the Conservatives, in holding on to his seat. It was only much more recently that there were more worrying signs for the Tories. During the 2017-19 Parliament, the MP for neighbouring Bracknell, Dr Phillip Lee, fell out with his party, and crossed the floor dramatically to join the Liberal Democrats. Rather than stand in his own seat, where the Lib Dems have a much weaker tradition, he opted to go head to head with Redwood in the 2019 general election. The issue of Europe seems to be a major reason for the weakening of the Conservatives' situation here; while Bracknell constituency voted conclusively to leave the EU, Wokingham voted fairly comfortably to remain in it. Lee cut Redwood's majority to its lowest yet, one of 7383 (in the two previous general elections, Labour had been in a distant second place). Since this is a constituency which despite the lack of a major town had in 2019 an above-average electorate, this represented a rather uncomfortable majority of under 12%. The Conservatives in some cases attempted to dismiss this as a one-off vote for a well-known personality in Dr Lee, but local elections painted a rather different picture, and for all its prosperity and low levels of deprivation this seat in 2019 became a genuine worry for the Conservatives. The boundary changes suggested that help might be at hand for the Conservatives, as the areas closest in to Reading, which have made a major contribution towards giving the Liberal Democrats their improved profile in this constituency, departed to help form a new seat called Earley and Woodley, to be replaced as mentioned above. Despite Liberal Democrat strength in Twyford, the changes undoubtedly increased the notional Conservative majority. But in the end it was immaterial. In the context of a desperate general election, and the retirement of a well-established member even though he has always had his detractors locally as well as nationally, the hapless Tory candidate Lucy Demery saw her Conservative share of the vote drop by a catastrophic 23%, while that of the Liberal Democrat candidate, Clive Jones, rose by over 15%, despite the latter only modestly squeezing the Labour share. This left Jones as Wokingham's new MP with a remarkably hefty majority, given the boundary change and the strong Tory heritage of the constituency, of 8345. It will be no easy matter for the Conservatives to reel this in when the next election comes.
WOKINGHAM
Wokingham, like Woking in Surrey, is named after a man who lived centuries ago called Wocca (two different Woccas, though, for two different towns). It has given its name to a constituency since 1950. For the first few decades it included, indeed came to be rather dominated by, the burgeoning New Town of Bracknell. Since 1983, however, when Bracknell became the main basis for the new, or rather reconstituted, constituency of East Berkshire (it acquired a seat named entirely after it in 1997), Wokingham itself has been the largest town in its eponymous constituency. Up to 2024, the constituency took in territory close in towards the south of Reading, but in the boundary changes Berkshire gained an extra seat in the centre of the ceremonial county, into which much of this territory has now gone. In its place came Finchampstead, Wokingham Without (which has always seemed an odd omission from the constituency up to now) , Charvil, Twyford, Hurst, Wargrave and the rural and semi-rural area in between. Some of this territory is almost eastern outer Reading suburbia, or perhaps more accurately outer satellite village, but mostly these are separate villages and small towns. Effectively, this has transformed Wokingham from being a constituency which is mostly south of Reading to one which is mostly east of Reading. There is a Wokingham unitary authority, but it is not coterminous with the parliamentary seat, which after these changes still continues to exclude some elements of the Wokingham unitary, though not as many as previously. Wokingham is not a tiny town, but is no metropolis either, and it therefore follows that quite a large part of its constituency is fairly rural. Farming, however, is not a major element in the local economy; the constituency's proximity to both Reading and London means that there are many commuters in what is frequently referred to as part of the stockbroker belt. The relatively rural peace and quiet makes this largely a desirable, and expensive, place to live.
Wokingham is not a gritty or deprived constituency, indeed very much the opposite. One of the most publicised social problems there has been is that it is such a desirable place to live that the key workers needed for schools, the NHS and other vital services cannot, in many cases, easily afford to buy or rent property in the area. In a number of studies, the constituency has come last, or close to last, in terms of levels of deprivation in Britain. With this level of prosperity, it is not surprising that up to 2024 politically it was always dominated, particularly at parliamentary level, by the Conservative Party, and from the seat's creation until then there were only 3 MPs, all Conservatives. However, the last two of these could hardly be more different in terms of their alignment within their party. The member from 1959 until his retirement in 1987, Sir William van Straubenzee, was a Thatcher-sceptic and pro-comprehensive-schools centrist; but his successor, Sir John Redwood, vies perhaps only with Sir William Cash for the distinction of being the longest-standing Eurosceptic figure within his party, and has always been associated with its fervently pro-Thatcher right wing. He announcement his retirement after the calling of the general election in May 2024. For many years Labour was unrepresented on the local authority, or before that had a solitary member. Recently the party has taken to winning Bulmershe & Whitegates ward, noted for its strong student population; however, that ward is not included in this constituency, but one ward that is, Norreys, elected a Labour councillor with a surprisingly wide margin in the 2022 local elections and voted Labour again in 2023 and 2024. This is one of the wards in the town of Wokingham itself, and while hardly poor does score a little higher on deprivation indices. However, for several decades now the Conservatives' principal opposition both in the constituency and in local elections has been the Liberal Democrats, who have even at times gained control of the council. The Tories have tended to be strongest in the wards closest in towards Reading, but the boundary changes now exclude some of those areas closer to that large town where the Liberal Democrats have done increasingly well in recent years, and effectively substitute them for areas where the Conservatives retain greater strength, although Twyford, which has some history as partially a railway town, has elected Liberal Democrat councillors consistently for some years, often by large margins.
For a long time the Liberal Democrats' success in some local elections did not really transfer to the parliamentary seat. In 1997, when the local borough council was in Liberal Democrat hands, John Redwood had no trouble at all, even in such a disastrous year for the Conservatives, in holding on to his seat. It was only much more recently that there were more worrying signs for the Tories. During the 2017-19 Parliament, the MP for neighbouring Bracknell, Dr Phillip Lee, fell out with his party, and crossed the floor dramatically to join the Liberal Democrats. Rather than stand in his own seat, where the Lib Dems have a much weaker tradition, he opted to go head to head with Redwood in the 2019 general election. The issue of Europe seems to be a major reason for the weakening of the Conservatives' situation here; while Bracknell constituency voted conclusively to leave the EU, Wokingham voted fairly comfortably to remain in it. Lee cut Redwood's majority to its lowest yet, one of 7383 (in the two previous general elections, Labour had been in a distant second place). Since this is a constituency which despite the lack of a major town had in 2019 an above-average electorate, this represented a rather uncomfortable majority of under 12%. The Conservatives in some cases attempted to dismiss this as a one-off vote for a well-known personality in Dr Lee, but local elections painted a rather different picture, and for all its prosperity and low levels of deprivation this seat in 2019 became a genuine worry for the Conservatives. The boundary changes suggested that help might be at hand for the Conservatives, as the areas closest in to Reading, which have made a major contribution towards giving the Liberal Democrats their improved profile in this constituency, departed to help form a new seat called Earley and Woodley, to be replaced as mentioned above. Despite Liberal Democrat strength in Twyford, the changes undoubtedly increased the notional Conservative majority. But in the end it was immaterial. In the context of a desperate general election, and the retirement of a well-established member even though he has always had his detractors locally as well as nationally, the hapless Tory candidate Lucy Demery saw her Conservative share of the vote drop by a catastrophic 23%, while that of the Liberal Democrat candidate, Clive Jones, rose by over 15%, despite the latter only modestly squeezing the Labour share. This left Jones as Wokingham's new MP with a remarkably hefty majority, given the boundary change and the strong Tory heritage of the constituency, of 8345. It will be no easy matter for the Conservatives to reel this in when the next election comes.
