Caversham Heights votes on Thursday 26 November for a new councillor. Nominations close at 4pm on 30 October; register to vote by 10 November.

Caversham Heights will elect a new borough councillor on Thursday 26 November. The poll goes ahead if more than one candidate stands.

Reading’s Returning Officer, Louise Duffield, published the notice of election on Thursday 22 October. Would-be candidates have until 4pm on Friday 30 October to hand in their nomination papers.

The ward has three seats on Reading Borough Council. The council’s list of councillors now shows two Conservatives, Isobel Ballsdon and Saadia Saadat, and one vacancy.

How the seat fell vacant

The council declared a casual vacancy in a notice dated 8 October. Under the Local Government Act 1972, any two electors in the borough could then ask for a by-election, and once they did, the poll had to be held within 35 working days.

The empty seat is the one Labour’s Jenny McGrother won in May 2024. Neither notice gives a reason for the vacancy. Whoever wins on 26 November will serve the rest of that four-year term.

Key dates

Deadline What
4pm, Friday 30 October Nomination papers delivered by hand
Midnight, Tuesday 10 November Register to vote
5pm, Wednesday 11 November New postal votes, and changes to postal or proxy votes
5pm, Wednesday 18 November New proxy votes
5pm, Wednesday 18 November Voter Authority Certificate (free photo ID)
7am to 10pm, Thursday 26 November Polling day

All deadlines come from the council’s by-election page and the notice of election. Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm at every UK local election.

Nomination papers must go by hand to the Electoral Services Office at Emmer Green Youth and Community Centre, St Barnabas Road, RG4 8LN. It takes them from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. The Returning Officer will prepare a nomination paper for any elector who asks.

How close it was last time

Caversham Heights is close-fought, and it turns out to vote.

When this seat was last fought, in May 2024, turnout was 45.7%. The result was:

  • Jenny McGrother, Labour: 1,405 (elected)
  • Paul Carnell, Conservative: 1,183
  • Danny McNamara, Green: 597
  • Vania Costa-Krol, Liberal Democrat: 225

In May 2026 both of the ward’s other seats were up, and the Conservatives took both. Turnout was 59%, the highest in the borough that day. Isobel Ballsdon topped the poll with 1,900 votes. Saadia Saadat won the second seat with 1,218, just 130 ahead of Labour’s Richard Stainthorp on 1,088.

After May’s election Labour held 29 of the council’s 48 seats, according to the council’s results page. So a single by-election will not change who runs the council. It will decide whether the ward ends up with three Conservative councillors or a split.

What it means for you

If you live in Caversham Heights, check you are registered before 10 November. You can do it online at gov.uk/register-to-vote in about five minutes.

You will need photo ID to vote at a polling station. A passport, driving licence or older person’s bus pass all count. If you have none, apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate by 5pm on 18 November.

Can’t get to the polling station? A postal vote must be arranged by 5pm on 11 November. A proxy, where someone you trust votes for you, must be arranged by 5pm on 18 November. If you fall ill or are called away for work after that, an emergency proxy can be arranged up to 5pm on polling day.

Whoever wins will join the council as it moves to a leader and cabinet system by May 2027.

We will publish the list of candidates once nominations close, and the result on the night.