Reform UK Bracknell

🚨 WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO BRACKNELL?

Over the last few months, we've had more and more residents contacting us about exactly the same things. Not grand political issues, not Westminster debates, just the things that affect everyday life.

The litter that seems to come back as fast as volunteers clear it away, the fly-tipping, the graffiti, the abandoned trolleys, the dangerous use of e-bikes and e-scooters, the boy racers treating public roads and car parks like their own personal playgrounds, the anti-social behaviour that chips away at people's enjoyment of their own neighbourhood.

Before anyone says it, yes, we know the majority of people are decent, law-abiding folk and that's exactly the point.

In fact, the overwhelming majority of residents work hard, pay their taxes, look after their homes, respect their neighbours and take pride in where they live. Yet more and more people are asking why it feels as though the decent majority are constantly expected to clear up after a small minority who simply do not care, or worse, go out of their way to cause distress to families and the community they live in (or maybe not).

What makes it even more frustrating is seeing community groups, volunteers and residents doing their absolute best to hold the line, by organising litter picks, reporting problems, looking after local green spaces and trying their very best to make their neighbourhoods better, just because they care.

They just can't keep pace, on their own. At some point we need to stop congratulating ourselves for clearing up the consequences and start asking why we have become so willing to tolerate the causes.

This really isn't just about rubbish, either but respect:
- for other people
- for shared spaces, and
- for the community we all call home.

Bracknell is still a fantastic place to live, which is precisely why so many people are worried about the direction of travel so, the message we're hearing is simple:
- the people are fed up with excuses
- they want standards
- they want consequences, and
- they want their elected representatives to start standing up for the decent majority again.

We've just read Peter Swallow's latest article and to be honest, it perfectly sums up what is wrong with modern politics.

Politicians talk about Bills, strategies, funding pots, initiatives and statistics.

Residents talk about whether they can get a doctor's appointment, whether they feel safe walking home at night, whether their children can get the support they need and why the standards in their neighbourhood seem to be slipping.

They're having completely different conversations.

We're sure the article is well intentioned but if you spend as much time as we do talking to residents across Bracknell, you quickly realise that people are less interested in what politicians say is improving and more interested in what they can actually see improving with their own eyes.

That, we suspect, is exactly where the disconnect lies.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CyLHHzt8e/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Peter Swallow: 'The Government is delivering for Bracknell'

🚨 SO APPARENTLY THIS “COSTS BRACKNELL NOTHING”…
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Really?

Residents are expected to believe a large-scale government hotel scheme involving:
• safeguarding
• housing liaison
• healthcare coordination
• school support
• council officer involvement
• community integration work, and eventually
• “move on” housing arrangements

…somehow created no meaningful impact, pressure or cost locally at all.

Come on.

Ordinary people are not stupid, because whenever local residents need support, we are constantly told:
• there is no money
• services are stretched
• housing is under pressure
• council tax must rise, and
• “difficult decisions” are unavoidable

Yet suddenly, when government wants something done quickly, entire systems somehow move at lightning speed and we are all expected not to ask questions.

Sorry, that simply does not pass the common-sense test.

Nobody is saying people should not be treated humanely.

What residents ARE saying is that Bracknell Forest Council should stop pretending this had no meaningful local implications while refusing to properly explain:
• what council resources were involved
• what support services were required
• what officer time was allocated
• what pressures were created, and
• how much local taxpayers ultimately carried indirectly

Also, while all this was happening, many local residents, including veterans and families already struggling with housing and rising costs, were still being told there was very little help available for them.

That is why people are angry.

Not because they lack compassion but because they are tired of being treated like they are too stupid to notice what is happening around them.

👉

Council rebuts claims about government-run Afghan hotel scheme The council has responded to claims about the 'Afghan hotel scheme' in Bracknell from Sandhurst Town Councillor John Edwards

🚨 FUNNY HOW THE “VACANCY” ONLY COSTS TAXPAYERS MONEY WHEN THERE’S ANOTHER PAID ROLE AVAILABLE.
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The recent Forest Park by-election only happened because the previous Winkfield Parish councillor resigned from the unpaid role, while not only keeping the paid borough council position but also taking on an additional paid role of Bracknell Forest Council Mayor within the borough civic structure.

So, local Business Rate and Council Tax payers got handed the bill for yet another round of establishment political musical chairs, while residents and business owners are constantly being lectured about “difficult financial pressures”.

Then it gets even more interesting.

The Liberal Democrats actively pushed for the by-election because they clearly believed they would comfortably win the seat.

Bracknell Labour quietly disappeared altogether and did not even stand, which many residents will recognise as the increasingly obvious anti-Reform arrangement that's been hiding in plain sight since 2022 and whenever things get politically difficult for the establishment parties.

Meanwhile the Conservatives desperately tried to claw the seat back.

And after all that?

Reform won outright.

That is what is really rattling people, because despite all these tactical "games", stitched-up local politics and establishment manoeuvring, ordinary residents still voted for change anyway.

Bracknell politics is changing far faster than the old parties want to admit.

https://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/26134103.bracknell-forest-council-elect-new-borough-mayor/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawR_gRxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEek_OwFmQgEAOlat_Cn-xAsram2hZmm638F2H5FK3xoe0UONR7mJJ3iSUee1Y_aem_WgjExZxg7RjOsNlSsPUkWg =1779577727

Cllr Peter Frewer becomes new Bracknell Forest mayor A new council Mayor has been elected.

🚨 FROM “BASKET CASE” TO “HIGH PERFORMING” IN TWO YEARS - REALLY?
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So, apparently Bracknell Forest Council has now gone from years of governance concerns, financial criticism, ombudsman findings, safeguarding failures, unsigned accounts and operational problems… to being presented as a “high performing” authority almost overnight.

Residents are entitled to ask some serious questions here, especially as many people will remember:
• repeated criticism over management and oversight
• taxpayers footing the bill for maladministration findings
• ongoing concerns around financial governance
• auditors refusing to sign off accounts, and
• one of the most damaging safeguarding and reputational crises this borough has ever seen, surrounding the former Mayor’s family circumstances.

Many of those issues did not arise under the current administration and largely developed during the Conservatives long-term control of the council.

Yet now, after barely two years of an administration, led by Bracknell Labour, residents are suddenly expected to believe everything has been transformed into a model authority following a three-day Local Government Association “peer review”.

Really?

Even the report itself still quietly references concerns around:
• governance
• financial management
• budget-setting
• oversight structures
• organisational coordination, and
• the need to reset relationships and responsibilities.

In other words, many of the same systemic issues local residents have been raising for years.

Accordingly, it is important to understand what a “peer review” actually is and this was 'not' a statutory inspection or independent regulator descending on BFC but a sector-led exercise, where local government effectively reviews local government.

Of course, that doesn't make the process meaningless but it absolutely does mean residents are entitled to apply a healthy degree of scepticism, especially when politicians begin presenting it as conclusive proof that everything is suddenly wonderful.

Outside the council chamber, many residents and local businesses will still see:
• rising council tax
• pressure on local services
• weak (or no) scrutiny
• political tribalism
• lack of accountability, and
• a culture that too often appears more focused on reputation management than honest reflection.

The Conservatives now seem keen to forget the financial and governance position they left behind and what seriously looks like turning a blind eye to serious governance failures.

Labour meanwhile appears eager to declare victory long before many council tax payers feel meaningful change has actually been delivered.

As for the Liberal Democrats, well, they continue floating somewhere between opportunism and selective outrage depending on the issue of the week.

Meanwhile, ordinary residents and business owners are left asking a very simple question: Who is actually holding any of this properly to account?

🔗 https://www.bracknellnews.co.uk/news/26131550.bracknell-forest-council-praised-high-performance/

'High-performing' council praised for quality of services and staff Bracknell Forest Council has been praised for delivering high-quality services to residents.

🇬🇧 FOREST PARK ELECTS REFORM UK 🇬🇧

Congratulations to Owen Lake, on being elected tonight as our newest Reform UK councillor, for Forest Park (Winkfield Parish Council), with 305 votes in a four-way contest.

Final result:
🔹 Reform UK - 305
🔹 Liberal Democrats - 254
🔹 Conservatives - 113
🔹 Greens - 105

Turnout was 26.5% with 780 votes cast (3 spoiled) in total.

Thank you to every resident who placed their trust in Owen and Reform UK Bracknell. We will work hard to repay that support.

We would also like to thank the other candidates for a hard-fought and generally respectful campaign.

This result sends a very clear message though. More and more people across Bracknell are moving away from the old political arrangements and looking for something different, something more honest, grounded and prepared, to challenge the status quo.

A huge thank you as well to all our volunteers, leaflet deliverers, canvassers and supporters who helped make this happen.

Today is another important step forward for Reform UK in Bracknell but it’s only the beginning.

Happy Saint George's Day to everyone across Bracknell and beyond from Reform UK Bracknell.

Today we celebrate the values that built this country and still matter now more than ever .... pride in our nation, strength in our communities and love of family.

Family. Community. Country.

Wishing all residents and local businesses a proud, positive and peaceful St George’s Day.

Serious questions are now emerging about how a taxi licence was originally issued to the former Bracknell mayor’s consort.

Recent reports and FOI disclosures suggest that Diwan Khan’s history had already raised doubts about whether he was a “fit and proper person” to hold a taxi licence.

If those concerns existed, how did the licence get issued in the first place and did the decision ever go before a licensing panel or scrutiny committee?

If anyone has reliable knowledge of how the licensing, governance or safeguarding processes were handled at the time, Reform UK Bracknell would welcome further information.

Please feel free to contact Malcolm directly by private message.

The latest polling from Electoral Calculus suggests Reform UK 🇬🇧 could win Bracknell if a general election were held today.

According to their latest poll of polls, Reform would be on 33.7%, ahead of Labour on 21% and the Conservatives on 19.8%.

Put simply, Reform’s support has roughly doubled compared to the 2024 election, while both Labour and the Conservatives have each seen their vote share cut by around a third.

That reflects what many residents are already saying on the doorstep, that they’re increasingly frustrated with the same two parties passing power back and forth while very little actually changes.

Plus, if these trends continue, by the time voters next get the chance to choose a new MP, there’s every chance those old party numbers will have fallen even further.

Interestingly, Peter Swallow’s spokesperson (he obviously couldn’t bring himself to do it) says they “don’t comment on opinion polls.”

Perhaps not surprising when the numbers look like this.

Residents see plenty of photo opportunities and announcements but far fewer straight answers when difficult questions are asked.

Bracknell deserves better than staged politics and non-answers.

What these numbers really show is that nothing is inevitable anymore. Seats aren’t owned by parties, they belong to voters and voters in Bracknell may be ready to send a very different message next time, both nationally and locally.

Read more:

Reform UK Set for Bracknell Landslide Win Radio Station in Berkshire on 95.6 FM. Listen Online to B Radio playing Hit Music Now across Berkshire.