Can Reading West & Mid Berkshire voters learn anything from the Rochdale By Election result?

First, it was an unusual election, if for no other reason than the Labour candidate not being supported by Labour in the end. However, something does seem to have been different.

The usual narrative from all the main parties is that to win you need to be a member of their party. It was certainly what I’ve been told in the past.

But Rochdale blew a hole in that argument in two significant ways. First, the winner is from a party, but that party is essentially one unusual person who was able to fight on mainly one issue. Second, Independents made up 25.3% of the vote, which is more than the Conservatives, Labour and Green combined (21.1%)

The leading Independent, who came second, had a simple message. “I’m a local businessman who wants to work on behalf of this constituency”.

It without doubt shows that voting Independent is not what the parties claim i.e. a wasted vote. It shows that change is possible if people want it.

The result encourages me to work even harder. You, as a voter, can make the difference. Standing as an Independent I’ll be delivering the same message as the 2^nd place candidate in Rochdale. “I’m a local businessman who wants to work on behalf of this constituency”.

Last week’s West Berkshire council meeting emphasised this further with motions that talked about lobbying the local MP and Westminster.

I’m happy to commit to both Reading and West Berkshire that should I become the MP, I’ll attend District council meetings at least 4 times a year. I would want to hear directly what Councillors' issues are for their specific area. I’ve committed to do something similar for Town and Parishes. How will I have the time to do this? Well, I won’t have to attend party meetings which for anyone involved in politics knows takes up a huge amount of time.

If you want to help get that change, please get in touch with me via https://adrainabbs.uk
Adrian Abbs
Independent Candidate

Reading West & Mid Berkshire