Announcing our 2023 Local Election candidates
Reading Liberal Democrats launch their local election campaign with candidate announcement for the 2023 Local Elections
The Reading Liberal Democrats have launched their local election campaign with an announcement a full slate of candidates for this year's elections to Reading Borough Council. From Abbey to Whitley, the Liberal Democrats are standing to demand a fair deal for Reading.
The local party’s campaign will focus on both national and local issues; highlighting the deteriorating funding and ever-more alarming rhetoric from the country's Conservative government, as well as the need for change after 35 years of Labour running the Reading Borough Council.
The seventeen Liberal Democrat candidates for the Reading Council believe there is another way, using the examples of Liberal Democrat-led councils across the country, from York to Torbay and even elsewhere here in the Thames Valley, with better roads, better environments, better public services and better, more affordable houses than Reading's. The top six councils in the country for recycling are all led by Liberal Democrats, including our neighbours in South Oxfordshire.1 These prospective Councillors believe Reading deserves this kind of leadership.
The Reading Liberal Democrats are also urging voters to remember to bring valid voter ID to the polling station with them on May the 4th, and to check the Electoral Commission website to see what forms of ID are valid and how you can get them for free. The Reading Liberal Democrats deplore this Conservative government's pointless waste of public funds on voter ID, which has the potential to rob thousands in our area of their democratic voice.
The Liberal Democrat leader on Reading Borough Council, Councillor Meri O'Connell (Tilehurst) said:
"Now more than ever, it's vital to have Liberal voices on our council. Every Liberal Democrat elected this May will be a champion for their local area who will work tirelessly all year round for their communities.
“I see first-hand the incredible work my Lib Dem colleagues put in on the council, and on councils nearby which we lead, like Wokingham and South Oxfordshire. Reading is a progressive town crying out for Liberal voices and hard-working community champions. I'm proud of the range of ages, experience and backgrounds our candidates bring to these elections - and will bring to the Council, if they're elected."
You can find out everything you need to know about the 2023 Local Elections at our Election Hub, including a full list and details of our candidates, read our manifesto, and find out more about what we believe. You can also find out which ward you live in, where your polling station is, and what types of voter ID will be accepted.
Vote Liberal Democrat on May the 4th, and help us get the fair deal Reading deserves.
1 The source for local council recycling rates is Let's Recycle, here: https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/three-rivers-tops-2021-22-recycling-table/