BY-ELECTION: All you need to know ahead of next week's Evendons vote to elect a new Wokingham Borough Council member

Evendons residents are set to elect a new borough councillor after Liberal Democrats councillor Helen Power resigned earlier this month.

Cllr Power discovered that she had incurable cancer shortly after she won the Evendons seat in May 2018.

Despite continuing to serve as a councillor for several months, Cllr Power took the decision to step down just after the turn of the year.

She took the seat from Conservative councillor Mark Ashwell, former executive member for Children’s Services, in a closely-fought contest.

The Liberal Democrats candidate took 47 per cent of the vote, while her Tory competitor took 41 per cent – totalling a difference of just 177 votes.

The next round of local elections are set to come on Thursday, May 2 with 17 seats up for grabs.

But, before that, Evendons residents will get the chance to vote for a new representative after Cllr Power’s resignation triggered a by-election.

When is it?
Nominations for the seat closed on Friday, January 11 and three candidates will be vying for Evendons’ residents ballot on Thursday, February 7.

Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on the day.

Register to vote here.

Where can I vote?

Evendons residents who are registered to vote can select their preferred candidate at either Woosehill Community Church, or at the council offices at Shute End in Wokingham town centre. 

Who is up for election?

There are three candidates vying for Evendons residents vote.

Representing the Conservative group is Daniel Clawson. Daniel is a teacher at a Berkshire secondary school, a governor at a further education college and also serves on an area board of young enterprise.

Sarah Kerr is the Liberal Democrats' candidate. Sarah settled in Wokingham four years ago and worked in the IT industry for several years at a global firm before becoming a charity fundraiser. She is now a freelance musician.

And Tim Lloyd will be wearing Labour's rosette on polling day.

Tim is retired and has lived in Woosehill for 25 years. He is a member of the ‘Friends of Fox Hill wood’ campaign group and is a neighbourhood watch representative.

Read about the candidates' visions for Wokingham below

Daniel Clawson - Conservatives

"My ambition in local politics is to champion effective measures to protect and improve the quality of life and opportunity for all residents and businesses in Evendons.

“I am a teacher and assistant principal at a Berkshire secondary school and a governor of a college and I hope to use my experiences to energetically champion education and skills locally.

“The recent increase in anti-social behaviour is a significant concern for many residents, and more could be done to identify those at risk of offending, and redirect disengaged young people.

“I want to ensure that Wokingham remains a desirable, safe, and affordable place to live. I am determined to tackle issues relating to planning, congestion, parking as well as making the most of our regenerated town centre and support business owners.

“A vote for me is a vote for a fresh perspective, a vote for people above politics and most importantly a vote for someone who will energetically champion his local community.”

Sarah Kerr - Liberal Democrats

“I have already met many of you over the last few months whilst knocking on doors all over the ward. I live on Evendons Lane. With my youngest son having recently started school, I wanted to do more to help in the community, and would like to represent you at Wokingham Borough Council.

“I have already been actively involved alongside the campaign to get the speed limit on Evendons Lane reduced. The safety issues of our Market Place have also led me to campaign for changes to be made to ensure public space is accessible.

“Through speaking with many of you, some of the issues facing our area are house building, anti-social behaviour, traffic congestion and the lack of thought for disabled residents when it comes to public spaces.

“I will endeavour to work hard on behalf of all of you on these issues and others. I believe that being a councillor is a public service, listening, guiding and doing what is in the interest of our community.”

Tim Lloyd - Labour

"A councillors’ role is not just to get elected and to disappear to the council chamber and committee rooms. A Labour local councillor’s job is to stand up for their community on all issues which impact the community, not just hide away.

“We have a small group of Labour councillors on the council and they are making a massive impact. It would be great to join them. The Tories just do not listen and having one party dominate the council makes for terrible local decision making – as we have seen with the management of the town centre regeneration.

“I have spoken to hundreds of residents and people are absolutely clear – Wokingham’s Post Office must stay in its historic building.

“You cannot continually cut youth service provision and police funding and not expect there to be consequences. Of course there is right and wrong, but we cannot just cross our fingers and hope society turns out ok, because it won’t. We have to invest in our young people and invest in our police”.

When will the result be announced?

There's no set time for when the result will come in, but candidates will gather at the council offices in Shute End from 10pm. 

However, results are expected to come in around midnight.