The Labour Party in Wokingham borough was left reeling after its party leader was defeated in this year’s local elections.

Andy Croy has served as a Labour Councillor for Bulmershe & Whitegates since 2016. Mr Croy had served as the Labour group leader on Wokingham Borough Council.

However, in the 2021 elections, Mr Croy was dethroned by Shahid Younis, the Conservative party candidate.

It was one of the biggest moments when results were revealed on Saturday, May 8.

ELECTION 2021: See the full results of the Wokingham elections 2021 here

Speaking on what him and his party will be doing next after his defeat, Mr Croy said: “We’ll carry on. If you’re on the Left of politics there’s the idea of the struggle, and it’s a struggle for a reason, because it’s not easy, because there’s set backs, and when those things happen, you don’t just crawl away, we don’t just give up, we come back stronger, we come back better, and we retake the things that we’ve lost and try and take the seats we haven’t won this time next year.

“It doesn’t end today, it doesn’t end tomorrow, it doesn’t end next week the struggle goes on forever. So for now we’ll go to the pub, relax and discover our families and our lives again. We’ll clear away all the old leaflets, think about what went well, what didn’t work so well, then start thinking about next May.

“We’re not the Conservative Party. If we put a rosette on a donkey, the donkey won’t get elected. And it does happen for the Conservative Party. We’ve seen it happen today. The stables are getting full.”

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Three Labour councillors remain in the borough chamber: Shirley Boyt and Carl Doran, both representatives for Bulmershe & Whitegates, and Rachel Burgess, representative for Norreys. It is understood Cllr Burgess will take Mr Croy’s place as leader.

“We’re not the Conservative Party. If we put a rosette on a donkey, the donkey won’t get elected. And it does happen for the Conservative Party. We’ve seen it happen today. The stables are getting full.”

Mr Croy was defeated by Shahid Younis, who had served as a councillor from 2011 to 2019.

Meanwhile, Mr Younis said he was “delighted” with the result.

Bracknell News:

He had previously been a councillor for Bulmershe & Whitegates from 2011 to 2019. However, he was unhorsed by Labour’s Shirley Boyt in the 2019 Local Elections.

Mr Younis said: “I’m absolutely delighted. I’m pleased to be back, I just wish to thank all the residents of Bulmershe & Whitegates for giving me that privilege to serve them again. I was councillor for eight years before. We fought a hard campaign, and we made a lot of investments in the ward while I was a councillor, over £30 million we invested in that ward, so people appreciate that work that we have done.

“So I’m absolutely delighted, and it’s a privilege to serve the residents of  Bulmershe & Whitegates.”