West Berkshire Tories show they are #Ready4Rishi during former Chancellor's visit to meet Conservative party members in Winterbourne

Conservative leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak was in West Berkshire today (Wednesday) trying to win over party members before they cast their ballots.

The former Chancellor of the Exchequer met around 100 party members at a private event in Winterbourne, where he was introduced by Newbury MP Laura Farris.

Mr Sunak spoke for around 20 minutes, laying out his plans for the future of the country, particularly focussing on education, the NHS, Ukraine and how he would tackle inflation.

And he seems to have gone down well with West Berkshire’s Conservative party members, with many taking to social media to publicly back him as soon as the event finished.

“It was a real pleasure to welcome Rishi to Newbury and to hear his values and solutions for the serious challenges facing this country,” Mrs Farris said.

“Local members told me afterwards that they valued the opportunity to question him directly, and he was asked about a broad range of policies which reflect the issues my constituents, of all political stripes, are contacting me about most frequently.

“This of course included tackling inflation, reducing energy costs and improving our domestic energy supply but also education, support for the elderly, NHS reform and Ukraine.

“Rishi had always had some strong supporters here, but there were a fair number of undecided voters and those who still hadn’t voted.

“From what they told me afterwards, his performance settled their decision to support him.

“The contest is nearing the end, but I think people appreciate a candidate who speaks unflinchingly about the threat of inflation and will make tackling it, his first priority.”

Margo Payne, former mayor of Newbury, was one of those who said it had helped her make up to her mind.

She said: “I was a wavering voter and very pleased to hear his views on tackling the dreaded inflation by not giving immediate tax cuts, but a more measured approach.

“His suggestion regarding charging people for missed NHS appointements – 15 million were missed last year – and his continued support for Ukraine was very important to me.

“I am, as they say, #Ready4Rishi.”

West Berkshire Council leader, Lynne Doherty, also got the chance to meet Mr Sunak.

She said that after hearing his plans for education, support for vulnerable and knowledge of the pressures facing local government she would also be voting for him.

"I have been giving careful consideration over the last few weeks on who to vote for in the Conservative Leadership contest, knowing that person will be PM and lead us through the difficult economic challenges that we face as a country," she said.

"I don’t think there are any easy solutions but wanted to vote for someone I felt understood the immediate challenges families face here in West Berkshire and was willing to offer targeted support to them over the coming months.

"Rishi clearly understands this need and is willing to offer short term support over the winter months.

"Rishi, as Chancellor, supported us well over the Covid years here in West Berkshire, making sure as a council we had the funds required to support our communities, introducing great initiatives such as the Kickstart Scheme to help our young people and providing the business grants that helped our local economy throughout.

"Having had the chance to speak directly with him he clearly understands the challenges local government faces over the coming years and is open to working with us to look at how best to address these.

"For these reasons he now has my vote."

Richard Crumly, a Thatcham town councillor, also attended the event. He said: “I am backing Rishi.

“He convinced me that he had a grasp on the various challenges facing our country and that he will be the man to address these when he becomes PM.”