Keith Baker, newly elected Wokingham Borough Mayor and Abdul Loyes, Deputy Mayor. Credit: Pauline Jorgensen
A new mayor, deputy mayor and executive has been appointed at a full meeting of Wokingham Borough Council. Councillor Keith Baker, who has served on the council since 2006, was elected Mayor of Wokingham Borough yesterday (Thursday, May 20). Cllr Baker said: “Being the first citizen of the borough is an amazing honour, which very few councillors actually achieve, and I am extremely humbled to become one of this small group. “In many respects I’m quite old fashioned, in that I believe being mayor is something you earn through your contribution to public life, and not simply because it’s your turn.
There will be eight fresh faces on Wokingham Borough Council following the Local Elections this year. That’s because seven councillors elected in 2016 chose not to run for another term this year, and one incumbent councillor was defeated in the election. In Wokinghan Borough, councillors are elected for four year terms. However, because elections were postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic, those councillors elected in 2016 got to serve another year. Here is a look at the eight fresh faces that will be taking up places on the council.
Philip Cunnington, Conservative councillor for Norreys ward Philip Cunnington was the first of the new councillors that were announced at the election count on Saturday, May 8.
File photo dated 06/05/10 of a voter placing a ballot paper in the ballot box. More than half of people say climate change will influence the way they vote in the next general election, a survey suggests..
The three main parties are contesting all 18 seats up for grabs this election in Wokingham. Voters in the borough go to the polls on Thursday, May 6, although many are expected to vote by post due to concerns over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It will see all three of the Wokingham party leaders try to cling onto their seats on the council. John Halsall, the incumbent borough council leader for the Conservative party, will be fending off Liberal Democrat challenger Martijn Andrea and Labour candidate Stuart Cranier in Cllr Halsall’s current seat of Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe. Last election, in 2016, Cllr Halsall received a majority of 704 votes, winning 930 votes in total.