To contact Richard please call 01635 55 1070

Elections can be cruel. Whatever one’s politics it is hard not to feel a degree of pity for the losers. Most notable was Phil Barnett who has been a councillor for a great many years and is respected across the political divide. At the other end of the age scale, Alex Payton has been a popular and successful Mayor of Thatcham but was swept aside in Thursday’s landslide.

This election was, above all, a victory for positive campaigning. My experience is that West Berkshire folk don’t like relentlessly negative literature coming through their door. Pointing out your opponent’s failings is a legitimate form of campaigning but it only works if balanced by a vast majority of the message being positive. I even discovered from one piece that, through a highly selective quote taken well out of context, I am apparently against the new cinema in Newbury. As untrue as it would be politically suicidal. Many Liberal Democrat candidates are better people than the literature they put out. Perhaps the strap line on all Liberal Democrat posters is part of their problem. "Winning here" puts elections in the context of a sporting fixture that has winning as the end-game. Elections should be about what you can achieve for people when you have won. "Service first" may not be the raciest of campaign messages but it certainly worked this time. Graham Jones leads the Council with an easy-going manner but with determined efficiency. He now has the political capital he and his team need to really make a difference to people’s lives across West Berkshire.