LIVE BLOG: Newbury and Thatcham town council results
Results and reaction as they come in
ELECTION results for Newbury and Thatcham town councils, plus some parish councils, will be announced today (Saturday).
Yesterday saw the Conservatives maintain control of West Berkshire Council with 24 councillors, holding on with a majority of five.
It was a historic day for the Green Party, who saw three of their candidates elected to the district council for the first time.
The Liberal Democrats took the 16 remaining seats, including six of Thatcham's seven and seven of Newbury's 12.
There are 23 seats up for election on Newbury Town Council, split between five wards – Clay Hill, East Fields, Speenhamland, Wash Common and West Fields.
The Conservatives gained control of the town council from the Liberal Democrats in 2015 and currently have 17 councillors to the Lib Dems’ six.
The Conservatives are fielding 22 candidates, the Lib Dems 21, Labour five, Greens two, UKIP one, while one independent candidate is standing.
In Thatcham, there are 18 seats up for grabs on the town council, split between four wards – Thatcham Central, Thatcham Crookham, Thatcham North East and Thatcham West.
Five candidates each will be elected to represent Central, North East and West, and three to Crookham.
The Conservatives gained control of the town council from the Liberal Democrats in 2015 and currently have 14 councillors to the Lib Dems’ four.
The Conservatives are fielding 18 candidates, the Lib Dems 15, Greens two, UKIP two and Labour one.
Elections for a number of other town and parish councils across the district will also be held today. These include Burghfield, Inkpen, Stratfield Mortimer, Theale, and Woolhampton.
4pm
Thank you for following our live blog. Don't forget to pick up a copy of the Newbury Weekly News next Thursday for all the results, in-depth reaction and photos from a dramatic couple of days.
Theale Parish Council results, elected were Clint Rolfe, Becky Williams, Alan Clark, Zoe Fenwick, Paul Clifford, Stuart Coker, Dan Baker, Lisa Cox, Iain Hopcroft, Jan Richardson, and Katie Leanne Gash
3.50pm
An incredible day for the Lib Dems, who have won 19 out of the 23 seats on Newbury Town Council and 15 of the 18 seats on Thatcham Town Council.
The party also took 16 seats on West Berkshire Council yesterday (a gain of 11).
Lib Dem Jeff Brooks said that a "yellow tide had swept away the blues".
3.05pm
The full results for Newbury East Fields are as follows:
Billy Drummond Liberal Democrats 896 Elected
Olivia Marie Elizabeth Lewis Liberal Democrats 820 Elected
Erik Pattenden Liberal Democrats 819 Elected
Jon Gage Liberal Democrats 809 Elected
Vaughan John Miller Liberal Democrats 794 Elected
John Henry Bennett Conservative Party 362 Not elected
Norma Murray Conservative Party 359 Not elected
George Paterson Conservative Party 337 Not elected
Archie William Denison-Smith Conservative Party 332 Not elected
Dave Joseph Mbawa Conservative Party 300 Not elected
Malik Kamail Pasha Azam UK Independence (UKIP) 179 Not elected
2.59pm
What a day for the Lib Dems. They have taken five more seats on Newbury Town Council after a clean sweep of the Newbury East Fields ward.
2.55pm
A flurry of results as three wards come in quick succession.
The Lib Dems have taken back control of Thatcham Town Council with 15 of the 18 seats. Stark contrast to four years ago when the Lib Dems had three seats to the Conservative's 15.
The Tories have been reduced to two seats, while the Green Party have their first councillor on Thatcham Town Council.
Deputy mayor Richard Crumly loses his seat, while his wife Ellen Crumly retains her seat in Thatcham Central. Steve Ardagh Walter is the other surviving Tory.
Former headteacher Paul Field is elected for the Greens.
Elected to Thatcham Central were: Owen Jeffery (Lib Dem, 1050), Jennifer Walker (Lib Dem, 971), Nassar Kessell (Lib Dem, 951), Paul Field (Green, 695), Ellen Crumly (Con, 585).
Not elected: Janet Cover (Con, 577), Richard Crumly (Con, 564), Robert Denton-Powell (Con, 522), Marigold Jaques (Con, 480), David McMahon (UKIP, 321).
Elected to Thatcham West were: Jeff Brooks (990), Keith Woodhams (869), Mark Lillycrop (811), Simon Pike (808), and David Lister (755).
Not elected Helen Picken (Con, 435), Ian Causer (Con, 430), Karen Manley (Con, 427), Gary Clarke (Con, 417), Jane Livermore (Green, 366), William Russell (Con, 325), Gary Johnson (UKIP, 290), George Rattray (90)
2.10pm
Some big name casualties for the Conservatives in Wash Common, with Newbury Town Council leader Adrian Edwards and three former mayors - Howard Bairstow, Anthony Pick and David Fenn - all losing their seats.
The results in full are as follows:
Roger Hunneman Liberal Democrats 1828 Elected
Chris Foster Liberal Democrats 1809 Elected
David Ralph Marsh Green Party 1779 Elected
Sarah Collette Slack Liberal Democrats 1773 Elected
Tony Vickers Liberal Democrats 1749 Elected
Gary Arthur Norman Liberal Democrats 1697 Elected
Adrian Arthur Walter Edwards Conservative Party 1112 Not elected
David Robert Fenn Conservative Party 1061 Not elected
Howard Martin Bairstow Conservative Party 1010 Not elected
Lorna Holmes Conservative Party 918 Not elected
Anthony Corbett Pick Conservative Party 879 Not elected
Mark Anthony Jones Conservative Party 817 Not elected
Andy Wallace Labour Party 306 Not elected
Peter Charles Tullett Labour Party 257 Not elected
2.05pm
The Lib Dems take five of the six available seats on Newbury Wash Common ward, with the Green Party taking the other.
After taking 14 seats, the Lib Dems have now regained control of Newbury Town Council.
Full results to follow.
1.45pm
The results are in for Newbury West Fields ward and the Lib Dems have taken all five seats.
Mary Martha Vickers Liberal Democrats 1268 Elected
Andy Moore Liberal Democrats 1263 Elected
Martin Eric Colston Liberal Democrats 1244 Elected
Elizabeth Rosemary O'Keeffe Liberal Democrats 1219 Elected
Nigel Peter Foot Liberal Democrats 1178 Elected
Richard Gordon Willis Conservative Party 620 Not elected
Edward John McDonald Amies Conservative Party 567 Not elected
Joseph Alvin Clarke Conservative Party 547 Not elected
Philip Charles Gilbart Witheridge Conservative Party 514 Not elected
Mark Andrew Wilson Conservative Party 488 Not elected
1.30pm
Green councillor Steve Masters tells us: "As a student of history Speenhamland was a very attractive area ward to stand in. It's a great privilege to represent it. I'm looking forward to it, we have got some fabulous green spaces in Newbury like Victoria Park and the allotments and part of the tenure of the town council is to maintain this for the public, and I look forward to being involved in that."
The results in full for Newbury Speenhamland are as follows:
Stephen Michael Masters Green Party 513 Elected
Jo Day Liberal Democrats 354 Elected
Jeanette Clifford Conservative Party 309 Not elected
Mauline Lucy Akins Conservative Party 274 Not elected
Bert Clough Labour Party 95 Not elected
Paul Pugh Labour Party 73 Not elected
1.23pm
The results for Newbury Speenhamland are in and its another historic moment as the Green Party gain their first ever seat on Newbury Town Council after Steve Masters is elected.
Lib Dem Jo Day has taken the other seat.
Its been an unbelievable 24 hours for Steve Masters after being elected to West Berkshire Council yesterday.
Conservative Jeanette Clifford has just lost her town council seat having also lost her district council seat yesterday.
1.21pm
The results for Burghfield Parish Council are in. 22 candidates battled it out for the 19 available seats.
Elected
Royce Longton, Carol Jackson-Doerge, Margaret Gallagher, Jane Ansell, Tim Ansell, Nick Morse, Ian Morrin, Ian MacFarlane, Bill Neilson, Alison May, Graham Harris, Tricia Hipwell, Libby Sharp, David Godwin, Daniel Kellaway, Maureen Cresser, Andrea Hales, Paul Lawrence, Christopher Greaves, Duncan Godding
191
Not elected
1.13pm
The Lib Dems take two of the three seats in Thatcham Crookham. Conservatives take the other.
John Boyd (Lib Dem, 471), Richard Foster (Lib Dem, 452) and Steve Ardagh Walter (Con, 489) are elected.
Julie Goode (Con, 389) and Paul Mather (Con, 425) miss out.
12.51pm
The Lib Dems have taken all five seats in Thatcham North East.
Lee Dillon (1046 votes), Mike Cole (1041), Jeremy Cottam (990), Christine Rice (930), and Lourdes Cottam (916) all elected.
Town council leader Jason Collis loses his seat along with former mayor Sheila Ellison.
Jason Collis (673), Simon Carr (Con) (652), Carla Denton-Powell (Con, 603), Sheila Ellison (Con) (594), Iain Murphy (Con) (487), Lou Coulson (Lab) (208)
12.35pm
Here are the results for Newbury Clay Hill in full:
Jeff Beck Conservative Party 594 Elected
Pam Lusby Taylor Liberal Democrats 579 Elected
Phil Barnett Liberal Democrats 574 Elected
Sue Farrant Liberal Democrats 533 Elected
Jeffrey Graham Cant Conservative Party 505 Elected
George Kenneth Charles Davis Liberal Democrats 496 Not elected
Margo Payne Conservative Party 492 Not elected
Sarah Elizabeth Lowes Liberal Democrats 484 Not elected
Anthony Vincent Stretton Conservative Party 459 Not elected
David Goff Conservative Party 423 Not elected
Gemma Elizabeth Lowe Labour Party 272 Not elected
12.32pm
The results are in for Newbury Clay Hill and the big news is Newbury mayor Margo Payne has lost her seat. So has the council's former Conservative leader Tony Stretton.
The Lib Dems took three of the five seats, with the Conservatives taking the other two.
12.09pm
Green councillor David Marsh, who was elected in Wash Common ward yesterday, said: "We have only got two candidates standing in each of the town councils, but I am pretty confident about Newbury if you look at what happened in Wash Common and Speen yesterday we ought to get those two seats."
Mr Marsh and Steve Masters, who won a seat in Speen yesterday, are both standing for Newbury Town Council. The party is fielding Paul Field in Thatcham Central and Jane Livermore in Thatcham West.
11.50am
The results for Inkpen Parish Council are in. A total of 13 candidates battled it out for seven seats.
Claire Jane Jones 212 Elected
Simon David Hanna 181 Elected
Bob May 177 Elected
Mark Christopher Bates 165 Elected
David Hamilton Thomas 163 Elected
Jennifer Lou Edwards 145 Elected
Moira Ghislaine Eileen Marriott 145 Elected
David Peter Lester 142 Not elected
Alex Popplewell 122 Not elected
Andrew Christopher Mario Zollo 118 Not elected
Vanessa Maria Philomena Tomlinson 115 Not elected
Anna Bidwell 107 Not elected
James William Ashley Jones 89 Not elected
11.33am
UKIP candidate for Thatcham West Gary Johnson says he was feeling confident last night of being elected to the town council.
Mr Johnson beat Green candidate Jane Livermore by one vote in yesterday's district council result. Both seats were taken by the Lib Dems.
Mr Johnson, a former Lib Dem mayor for the town, said: "It's a little bit difficult to know whether I will have the opportunity but I'm looking forward to the result anyway, and I hope that I will qualify to be a councillor for Thatcham West."
11.07am
Thatcham's deputy mayor Richard Crumly, who lost his seat on West Berkshire Council yesterday, said he was "disappointed that we weren't able to get our message across. The Brexit blues have served to undermine us on the doorstep along with the green bin, that's still floating around, and we tried to say 'this is not about Brexit or the chaos at Westminster', this is about local services and local people.
"We think we Tories have been doing a good job since 2005, please give us another four years, but in challenging times to rearrange local government finances."
11am
There's optimism in the Liberal Democrat camp. Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham West) tells us: "We had a very good day yesterday and we expect to take both the town councils today. That will give us the ability to employ some of our policies and show people how we can be ready to run West Berkshire Council in four years' time."
On the Lib Dem surge yesterday he said: "Clearly there's a national issue but we worked very hard locally and there was a sense among the population that it was time for a change."
10.13am
Counting is underway
