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.
Candidates from the big three parties in the Wokingham elections have explained what it is like to campaign during the pandemic. Somewhat surprisingly, they have all said that they have been received well on the doorstep, with some voters being happy to speak with them about local issues. Cllr John Halsall, leader of the Wokingham Conservatives, who’s standing in Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe, said: “I have been canvassing, I have probably been out 50 times, probably more, and I am quite happy to maintain social distancing and talk to people. There is a protocol in place where you deliver and then stand way back, and if someone comes to the door we talk to them.
Cllr Murray said: “The global Carbon Footprint is 51 billion tonnes per year. “What Cllr Croy is essentially saying is that there is no point in Wokingham doing anything on climate change as we represent 1/1000th of 1 per cent of the global carbon footprint. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet in Climate Change. “I wish there was something that we could do that would cut our carbon footprint in half, but there isn’t. The simple fact that Wokingham Labour fail to realise is that we have to lots of little things that add up and add up and add up to big reductions overall.