1986 Reading Borough Council election

The 1986 Reading Borough Council election was held on 8 May 1986, at the same time as other local elections across England and Scotland. One third of Reading Borough Council's 45 seats were up for election.

The election saw the Conservatives lose their majority on the council. Labour gained most seats, but remained one seat short of an overall majority, leaving the council with no overall control. After the election, Labour had 22 seats, the Conservatives had 18 seats, and the SDP-Liberal Alliance had 5 seats, all of whom were Liberals.

Labour subsequently took control of the council, with the support of two disaffected Conservatives.^[1] The Labour leader, Mike Orton, took the council's top political job as chair of the policy committee. The Conservative leader, Deryck Morton, stood down as party leader immediately after the election, being replaced by Geoff Canning.^[2] The Liberal leader remained Jim Day. Turnout was reported to be 39%.^[3]

Results

Reading Borough Council Election, 1986
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Labour	9	5	0	+5	60.0	36.4	15,213	+2.9
Conservative	4	0	5	-5	26.7	32.8	13,736	-9.6
Alliance	2	1	1	0	13.3	28.5	11,920	+5.3
Green	0				0	2.3	954	+1.4

Ward results

The results in each ward were as follows (candidates with an asterisk* were the previous incumbent standing for re-election, candidates with a dagger(†) were sitting councillors contesting different wards):^[4]^[3]

Abbey Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dave Geary*	1,258	54.8	−2.9
	Conservative	Chris Webb	476	20.7	−7.4
	SDP	Jeremy Lazenby	404	17.6	+3.5
	Green	Peter Oldham	156	6.8	n/a
Turnout			2,294
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.25

Battle Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Rush*	1,292	51.4	+8.1
	SDP	Clive Jones	597	23.7	−10.5
	Conservative	Susan White	512	20.4	+0.3
	Green	Ian Cooper	114	4.5	+2.2
Turnout			2,515
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.3

Caversham Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fred Pugh*	1,624	54.7	−10.0
	Labour	Geoff Mander	803	27.1	+2.6
	SDP	Mary Hargreaves	541	18.2	+7.4
Turnout			2,968
	Conservative hold		Swing	-6.3

Church Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	June Orton*	1,077	51.3	+2.1
	Conservative	Jennifer Abbott	569	27.1	−8.3
	Liberal	Steve Begg	452	21.5	+6.2
Turnout			2,098
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.2

Katesgrove Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mark Hendry	1,184	56.5	5.7
	Conservative	Shirley Mills*	620	29.6	−3.9
	SDP	Nikola Sergt	292	13.9	+0.8
Turnout			2,096
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.8

Kentwood Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Ford	1,227	43.7	+7.3
	Conservative	Derek Browne*	865	30.8	−9.1
	Labour	Linda Harper	714	25.4	+1.8
Turnout			2,806
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.2

Minster Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Sage*	1,218	42.1	−12.6
	Labour	Brian Statter	1,014	35.0	+5.0
	SDP	Steve Hanson	566	19.6	+4.2
	Green	Andrew Hardy	97	3.4	n/a
Turnout			2,895
	Conservative hold		Swing	-8.8

Norcot Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jo Lovelock	1,373	43.9	+3.0
	Liberal	John Freeman*	1,168	37.3	−2.9
	Conservative	Peter Wells	518	16.5	−2.4
	Green	Maureen Gray	71	2.3	n/a
Turnout			3,130
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.95

Park Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gill Parker	1,530	51.4	+7.2
	Conservative	Norman Pearson*	921	30.9	−7.6
	SDP	Robin Pratt	359	12.1	−1.4
	Green	Philip Unsworth	167	5.6	+1.8
Turnout			2,977
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	7.4

Peppard Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoff Canning*	1,479	44.5	−18.1
	Liberal	Ian Fenwick	1,452	43.6	+19.5
	Labour	Phil Hingley	396	11.9	−1.4
Turnout			3,327
	Conservative hold		Swing	-18.8

Redlands Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rajinder Sohpal	1,105	34.1	−3.2
	SDP	David Cornes	1,043	32.2	+7.9
	Conservative	Grace Wray	912	28.1	−6.0
	Green	Chris Parr	181	5.6	+1.3
Turnout			3,241
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.6

Southcote Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christine Howell	1,430	44.0	+10.7
	Conservative	John Rimmer	1,187	36.5	−9.2
	SDP	Andrew McLuskey	632	19.5	−1.5
Turnout			3,249
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.95

Thames Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hamza Fuad*	1,435	40.6	−19.7
	Liberal	Martyn Allies	1,248	35.3	+7.7
	Conservative	Tony Markham†	381	10.8	n/a
	Labour	Mark Drukker	306	8.6	−3.5
	Green	Louise Barnes	168	4.7	n/a
Turnout			3,538
	Conservative hold		Swing	-13.7

Tilehurst Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Janet Bond*	1,614	59.5	+4.4
	Conservative	David Henderson	655	24.1	−8.4
	Labour	Jim Toner	445	16.4	+4.1
Turnout			2,714
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.4

Whitley Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Orton*	1,286	65.1	+13.1
	Conservative	Barry Cummings	364	18.4	−6.7
	SDP	John Wood	325	16.5	−6.5
Turnout			1,975
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.9

By-elections 1986–1987

Peppard By-Election 11 September 1986
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ian Fenwick	1,564	46.6	+2.9
	Conservative	Frank Heyes	1,408	41.9	−2.5
	Labour	Phil Hingley	385	11.5	−0.4
Majority			156	4.6
Turnout			3,357	45.2
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.7

The Peppard ward by-election in 1986 was triggered by the resignation of Conservative councillor Geoff Lowe.^[5]^[6]

References

^ "Fuads give Labour reins of power". Evening Post. Reading. 21 May 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
^ "Geoff elected to lead Tories". Evening Post. Reading. 13 May 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Tory defeat in town means a hung council". Evening Post. Reading. 9 May 1986. p. 6. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
^ "Power struggle for Reading: How they line up". Evening Post. Reading. 10 April 1986. p. 5. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
^ "Leading Tory resigns his council seat". Evening Post. Reading. 16 July 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
^ "By-election win boosts Alliance drive for victory". Evening Post. Reading. 12 September 1986. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2022.

[1] "Fuads give Labour reins of power". Evening Post. Reading. 21 May 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

[2] "Geoff elected to lead Tories". Evening Post. Reading. 13 May 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

[results-3] "Tory defeat in town means a hung council". Evening Post. Reading. 9 May 1986. p. 6. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

[4] "Power struggle for Reading: How they line up". Evening Post. Reading. 10 April 1986. p. 5. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

[5] "Leading Tory resigns his council seat". Evening Post. Reading. 16 July 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 10 April 2022.

[6] "By-election win boosts Alliance drive for victory". Evening Post. Reading. 12 September 1986. p. 1. Retrieved 10 April 2022.

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