2026 Reading Borough Council election

← 2024 7 May 2026(2026-05-07) 2027 (TBD) →

17 out of 48 seats to Reading Borough Council 25 seats needed for a majority

Turnout41.2% (9.2%)

First party Second party Third party 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% Seats before 32 8 3 Seats won 7 6 3 Seats after 29 11 5 Seat change 3 3 2 Popular vote 15,300 15,113 9,179 Percentage 29.2% 28.8% 17.4% Swing 18.3% 8.0% 2.7% Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party Leader Anne Thompson Clarence Mitchell (defeated) Party Liberal Democrats Reform Independent Last election 3 seats, 10.3% 0 seats, 0.5% 1 seat, 0.1% Seats before 3 1 1 Seats won 1 0 0 Seats after 3 0 0 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 4,158 8,592 27 Percentage 7.9% 16.4% 0.1% Swing 2.4% 15.9% 0.0%

First party Second party Third party

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%

Seats before 32 8 3

Seats won 7 6 3

Seats after 29 11 5

Seat change 3 3 2

Popular vote 15,300 15,113 9,179

Percentage 29.2% 28.8% 17.4%

Swing 18.3% 8.0% 2.7%

Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party

Leader Anne Thompson Clarence Mitchell (defeated)

Party Liberal Democrats Reform Independent

Last election 3 seats, 10.3% 0 seats, 0.5% 1 seat, 0.1%

Seats before 3 1 1

Seats won 1 0 0

Seats after 3 0 0

Seat change 1 1

Popular vote 4,158 8,592 27

Percentage 7.9% 16.4% 0.1%

Swing 2.4% 15.9% 0.0%

Leader before election Liz Terry Labour Leader after election TBD Labour

Leader before election Liz Terry LabourLeader after election TBD Labour

The 2026 Reading Borough Council election was held on 7 May 2026, alongside the other local elections across the United Kingdom being held on the same day, to elect 17 of 48 members of Reading Borough Council.

Of these, 16 seats are part of the regular election cycle, in which one-third of the council is elected in three out of every four years. The remaining seat is a vacancy in Caversham Heights, following the decision of councillor Sam Juthani to step down.

At 41.2%, turnout was the highest outside of a general election since the 1991 Reading Borough Council election. The Labour Party maintained an overall majority, continuing its rule of the council since 1986 (with the exception of 2010-2011). The Green Party gained its best-ever result, enlarging its group to double digits and defeating 3 Labour lead councillors. The Liberal Democrats retained their control of Tilehurst ward but failed to make inroads elsewhere. Despite its impressive performance nationally, Reform UK failed to have a breakthrough, losing its lone seat, which it had gained through a Conservative defection.

Council composition

After 2024 election	Before 2026 election
Party	Seats	Party	Seats
	Labour	32		Labour	31
	Green	8		Green	8
	Conservative	4		Conservative	3
	Liberal Democrats	3		Liberal Democrats	3
	Reform	0		Reform	1
	Independent	1		Independent	1
	Vacant	N/A		Vacant	1

Changes 2024–2026:

January 2026: Clarence Mitchell (Conservative) defects to Reform
March 2026: Sam Juthani (Labour) resigns – seat left vacant until 2026 election

Summary

Background

In 2024, Labour retained control of the council.

Election result

2026 Reading Borough Council election
Party	This election	Full council	This election
Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	7	3	41.2	22	29	60.4	15,300	29.2	–18.2
	Green	6	3	35.3	5	11	22.9	15,113	28.8	+8.0
	Conservative	3	2	17.6	2	5	10.4	9,179	17.4	–2.7
	Liberal Democrats	1		5.9	2	3	6.3	4,158	7.9	-2.4
	Reform	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	8,592	16.4	+15.9
	Independent	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	27	0.1	0.0
	Liberal	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	51	0.1	±0.0
	SDP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	29	0.1	N/A
	TUSC	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	25	<0.0	-0.8

Incumbents

Ward	Incumbent councillor	Party	Re-standing
Abbey	Karen Rowland		Labour	Yes
Battle	Sarah Hacker		Independent	No
Caversham	Jacopo Lanzoni		Labour	Yes
Caversham Heights	Isobel Ballsdon		Conservative	Yes
Sam Juthani		Labour	No
Church	Ruth McEwan		Labour	Yes
Coley	Ellie Emberson		Labour	Yes
Emmer Green	Clarence Mitchell		Reform	Yes
Katesgrove	Louise Keane		Green	Yes
Kentwood	Glenn Dennis		Labour	Yes
Norcot	Jo Lovelock		Labour	No
Park	Rob White		Green	Yes
Redlands	Kathryn McCann		Green	Yes
Southcote	Deborah Edwards		Labour	No
Thames	Adele Barnett-Ward		Labour	Yes
Tilehurst	Meri O'Connell		Liberal Democrats	Yes
Whitley	Rachel Eden		Labour	Yes

Ward results

Votes were counted overnight and the results published on the council's website on 8 May.

Abbey

Abbey
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Jacqueline Dominquez	792	37.6	+24.1
	Labour	Karen Rowland*	683	32.5	−11.7
	Conservative	Robert Dalton	279	13.3	−18.7
	Reform	Paul Newton	202	9.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Henry Wright	139	6.6	−3.0
	TUSC	James Morgan	9	0.4	N/A
Majority	109	5.1	N/A
Turnout	2,109	32.3	+4.5
Registered electors	6,512
	Green gain from Labour	Swing	17.9

Battle

Battle
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pratikshya Gurung	1,180	41.4	−22.4
	Green	Zoe Mann	998	35.0	+15.9
	Reform	Diana Whitehouse	335	11.8	N/A
	Conservative	Ben Blackmore	207	7.3	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Grout	118	4.1	−2.6
Majority	182	6.4	−38.3
Turnout	2,851	38.2	+11.4
Registered electors	7,470
	Labour gain from Independent	Swing	19.2

Caversham

Caversham
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jacopo Lanzoni*	1,438	38.4	−16.8
	Green	Sam Wild	920	24.5	+9.3
	Reform	Jeff Lewis	600	16.0	N/A
	Conservative	Andrew Ballsdon	549	14.6	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Spencer	225	6.0	−4.5
	SDP	Bill Runacre	16	0.4	N/A
Majority	518	13.8	−24.4
Turnout	3,761	49.9	+11.5
Registered electors	7,608
	Labour hold	Swing	13.1

Caversham Heights

Caversham Heights (2 seats due to by-election)
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Isobel Ballsdon*	1,900	44.2	+9.5
	Conservative	Saadia Saadat	1,218	28.3	−6.4
	Labour	Richard Stainthorp	1,088	25.3	−15.9
	Labour	Jo Musominari	1,058	24.6	−16.6
	Green	Danny McNamara	866	20.1	+2.6
	Green	Adil Khan	761	17.7	+0.2
	Reform	James Stothard	580	13.5	N/A
	Reform	Ilayda Molloy	496	11.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Ramsay	416	9.7	−15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Vania Costa-Krol	271	6.3	−0.3
Turnout	4,438	57.3	+11.6
Registered electors	7,507
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Labour

Church

Church
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ruth McEwan*	1,095	39.4	−19.7
	Reform	Matthew Reynolds	680	24.5	N/A
	Green	Jamie Whitham	468	16.8	+4.3
	Conservative	Adam Phelps	362	13.0	−8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Cole	163	5.9	−0.9
Majority	415	14.9	−22.6
Turnout	2,780	34.0	+8.7
Registered electors	8,174
	Labour hold

Coley

Coley
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Richard Walkem	973	33.4	+20.6
	Labour	Ellie Emberson*	964	33.1	−21.7
	Reform	Petru Mereacre	445	15.3	N/A
	Conservative	John Angus	367	12.6	−7.1
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Ward	166	5.7	−2.7
Majority	9	0.3	−34.7
Turnout	2,915	52.6	+21.0
Registered electors	7,835
	Green gain from Labour	Swing	21.2

Emmer Green

Emmer Green
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alex Smith	1,143	27.8	–8.9
	Green	Hannah Conibear	1,103	26.8	+13.5
	Reform	Clarence Mitchell*	805	19.6	N/A
	Labour	Ollie White	770	18.7	–22.1
	Liberal Democrats	Nishikant Gupta	290	7.1	–2.1
Majority	40	1.0	N/A
Turnout	4,117	52.6	+15.4
Registered electors	7,835
	Conservative gain from Reform	Swing	11.2

Katesgrove

Katesgrove
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Louise Keane*	1,340	50.8	+6.1
	Labour	Richard Wong	604	22.9	–13.9
	Conservative	Matthew Callow	281	10.6	+0.3
	Reform	Prabhdeep Singh	279	10.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Dobson	109	4.1	–0.8
	Independent	Jean Pascual	27	1.0	–0.2
Majority	736	27.9	+20.0
Turnout	2,653	35.0	+5.1
Registered electors	7,591
	Green hold	Swing	10.0

Kentwood

Kentwood
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Glenn Dennis*	1,014	32.4	–15.7
	Conservative	David Milne-Buckley	775	24.8	–11.3
	Reform	Stephen Ruston	736	23.5	N/A
	Green	Tim Liddle	476	15.2	+5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Jibril al-Nabahani	127	4.1	–1.6
Majority	239	7.6	–4.4
Turnout	3,133	46.6	+11.3
Registered electors	6,720
	Labour Co-op hold	Swing	2.2

Norcot

Norcot
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alison Foster	967	35.4	–15.0
	Reform	Oliver Maunder	641	23.5	+15.2
	Green	Isobel Hoskins	558	20.4	+10.5
	Conservative	Kes Williams	293	10.7	–3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Brandon Masih	221	8.1	–5.8
	Liberal	Stephen Graham	51	1.9	+0.1
Majority	326	11.9	–24.5
Turnout	2,744	36.1	+7.4
Registered electors	7,598
	Labour hold	Swing	15.1

Park

Park
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Rob White*	1,872	65.2	+7.6
	Labour	James Cuggy	591	20.6	–13.0
	Reform	Stephen Ham	190	6.6	N/A
	Conservative	Kris Lund	149	5.2	–0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jassien Sabri	71	2.5	–0.1
Majority	1,281	44.6	+20.6
Turnout	2,886	42.8	+4.4
Registered electors	6,741
	Green hold	Swing	10.3

Redlands

Redlands
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Kathryn McCann*	1,549	54.8	+0.9
	Labour Co-op	Roy Rangarirai	708	25.0	–8.6
	Reform	Darren Seward	254	9.0	N/A
	Conservative	Abdoulaye Sow	179	6.3	–0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Wilson	122	4.3	+0.6
	TUSC	Melanie Dent	16	0.6	–0.9
Majority	841	29.8	+9.5
Turnout	2,838	40.2	+7.4
Registered electors	7,065
	Green hold	Swing	4.8

Southcote

Southcote
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ulrike Magyarosy	1,032	36.0	–23.6
	Reform	Bev Heslin	623	21.7	N/A
	Green	Rosemary Croft	614	21.4	+10.5
	Conservative	Grace Blackmore	408	14.2	–5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Benjamin Sims	188	6.6	–2.7
Majority	409	14.3	–26.0
Turnout	2,875	37.1	+7.9
Registered electors	7,741
	Labour hold

Thames

Thames
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	David Clarke	1,031	39.1	+22.8
	Labour	Adele Barnett-Ward*	750	28.5	–24.1
	Reform	Alexander Kelly	351	13.3	N/A
	Conservative	Jaykumar Patel	308	11.7	–6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Burden	183	6.9	–5.3
	SDP	James Halls	13	0.5	N/A
Majority	250	10.6	N/A
Turnout	2,640	42.4	+10.5
Registered electors	6,226
	Green gain from Labour	Swing	23.5

Tilehurst

Tilehurst
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Meri O'Connell*	1,144	38.4	–13.7
	Reform	Steven Low	763	25.6	N/A
	Labour	Caroline Basden	439	14.7	–6.4
	Green	Caroline Hearst	343	11.5	+4.7
	Conservative	Raihana Rahimi	288	9.7	–9.5
Majority	381	12.8	–18.2
Turnout	2,985	41.3	+10.0
Registered electors	7,235
	Liberal Democrats hold

Whitley

Whitley
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Rachel Eden*	919	34.6	–23.1
	Reform	Richie Sahni	612	23.0	N/A
	Conservative	Vani Goel	473	17.8	–3.3
	Green	Kathy Smith	449	16.9	+7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Pieter de Boiserie	205	7.7	–1.5
Majority	307	11.6	–24.9
Turnout	2,668	32.0	+8.3
Registered electors	8,346
	Labour Co-op hold

2026 Reading Borough Council election

Council composition

Summary

Background

Election result

Incumbents

Ward results

Abbey

Battle

Caversham

Caversham Heights

Church

Coley

Emmer Green

Katesgrove

Kentwood

Norcot

Park

Redlands

Southcote

Thames

Tilehurst

Whitley

Notes