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May's former seat goes Lib Dem in Tory wipe-out

By Daisy Stephens, BBC News
Getty Images Theresa May with grey hair and wearing a forest-green blazer speaking to the cameraGetty Images
Theresa May announced she was stepping down in March

The seat of former prime minister Theresa May has gone to the Liberal Democrats as the Conservatives faced a near wipe-out in Berkshire.

Joshua Reynolds beat Tory candidate Tania Mathias by 2,963 in Maidenhead, taking the seat that had been held by Ms May since it was created in 1997.

She announced in March she was stepping down as an MP.

Of the nine constituencies in Berkshire, two were held by Labour, three went from Conservative to the Liberal Democrats, one went from Conservative to Labour, and two new seats also went to Labour.

Joshua Reynolds in a pale grey suit wearing a yellow Liberal Democrats rosette smiling at the camera
Joshua Reynolds became the new MP for Maidenhead

Only one constituency - Windsor - remains held by the Conservatives, albeit by a smaller margin than the last election.

Jack Rankin received 16,483 votes, with Labour's Pavitar Mann in second place with 10,026.

Wokingham, which has been Conservative since 1910, went to the Liberal Democrats, with Clive Jones securing a majority of 8,345.

He said even he did not think his majority would be as big as it was.

"It's just fantastic," he said.

The neighbouring constituency of Bracknell has been Conservative since its creation but is now represented by Labour MP Peter Swallow.

He beat the Conservatives' James Sunderland by 784 votes.

Reuters Clive Jones and Ed Davey wearing brightly coloured shorts and T-shirts, with their arms in the air taking part in a Zumba class with other participants around themReuters
Clive Jones (right) pictured with Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey at a Zumba class during a campaign event in Wokingham

Newbury, which has been represented by Laura Farris since 2019 and has been Conservative since 2005, went to the Liberal Democrats' Lee Dillon, who was the leader of West Berkshire Council until recently.

Before the result was announced, Ms Farris blamed heavy Tory losses on infighting within the party making it "look like politics was not in the service of the public".

"When you take a heavy defeat you need to obviously really, really carefully reflect on what's gone wrong," she said.

The new seat of Earley and Woodley was taken by former Financial Times journalist and economist Yuan Yang, who beat Conservative Pauline Jorgensen by 18,209 votes to 17,361.

Another new seat, Reading West and Mid Berkshire, also went to Labour, with Olivia Bailey winning a majority of 1,361 over Tory Ross Mackinnon.

Yuan Yang with short, black, wavy hair smiling at the camera with an election count visible through the window behind her
Yuan Yang said her priority as a new MP was fixing the cost of living crisis

In Reading Central, Labour MP Matt Rodda kept his seat and gained an even bigger majority over Conservative candidate Raj Singh, with 21,598 votes to 8,961.

In third place was the Green Party's Dave McElroy, with 6,417.

Labour's Tan Dhesi also held on in Slough, although with a much smaller majority than the last election - 3,647 down from 13,347.

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