Cllr Pauline Jorgensen has been elected the new Leader of Wokingham Borough Council’s Conservative Group, pledging to “focus on the priorities of local residents”.
Thanking her colleagues for their support, Cllr Jorgensen said that she will announce her top team later this month.
The new Group Leader will be the Conservative nominee for the Leader of the Council at the Annual Council meeting on 19th May 2022. However, Cllr Jorgensen has acknowledged that while the Conservative Group remains the largest party, its lack of a majority means that her party will probably be in Opposition thanks to a Liberal Democrat-Labour coalition.
If this is the case, she has pledged that she and her team will robustly challenge a new Liberal Democrat administration, while making the case to voters to re-elect the Conservatives in 2023.
The Liberal Democrats are likely to be supported by other Opposition councillors in order to elect a Council Leader and run the authority. The Conservative Leader has expressed a hope that the other parties will nonetheless continue to express that they will avoid sacrificing their core beliefs to prop up the Liberal Democrats.
Cllr Jorgensen, who represents Hillside ward in Earley, was chosen by Conservative councillors after Cllr John Halsall decided to step down after three years in the role.
Cllr Jorgensen said: “I am honoured to have been chosen by my fellow Conservative councillors to lead the Group. “We will continue to work hard to help our residents.
“Clearly, it’s disappointing that our lack of a majority on the Council means that we may not be able to continue running the authority in the coming year.
“We want to protect the strong legacy that we have left for the new administration to pick up.
“The recent local elections sent a clear message from residents: they want all parties to work together for the benefit of all the Borough.
“The Liberal Democrats should remember that the voters didn’t give them a majority on the Council.
“The Opposition made a lot of pledges during the election campaign, and we want to make sure that they’re delivering on what residents want.”
