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Conservatives to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats on Reading Borough Council

The Conservative group on Reading Borough Council today announced that they are finalising an agreement with Liberal Democrat group to form a coalition in order to take control of Reading Borough Council.

The recent local elections resulted in very little change to the political make-up of the council, although almost two-thirds of the votes cast were for the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats.  Taking note of the initiative of the two parties in national government, the two council groups embarked on a process of negotiation that resulted in this agreement to work together for the good of the town.

The agreement to work as a coalition is driven by a shared desire to deliver change and improve services.  A key objective of the coalition administration will be to put the council finances on a firm footing after many years of Labour mismanagement.

Councillor Andrew Cumpsty, Leader of the Conservative Group, said “These are very interesting times. The discussions with the Liberal Democrats have been extremely positive throughout and I’m delighted to have reached this agreement.  We are serious about running an effective council focused on the needs of our residents, offering better value for money and a commonsense approach to local government.  I’m extremely confident that this can be achieved by working together with our Liberal Democrat partners.”

Councillor Cumpsty added, “We all felt that ‘more of the same’ with Labour was not the best option for this town.”

19th May 2010