Local elections

[Clyde1998]

Just a random idea.

Back in 1990, a group of Charlton fans ran in the Greenwich council elections to pressure the local council to allow the redevelopment of The Valley which would allow the club to return to the stadium after they had been evicted in 1985. Although they didn't win any seats, they received over 15,000 votes and were successful in their aims.

There are elections to Reading Borough Council in May. I don't know if anyone would be open to supporting a campaign to ensure political attention is kept on the club.

IIRC, local elections don't require a deposit to stand as a candidate - merely ten signatures from residents of the ward the candidate would be standing in. Candidates have to have lived or worked in the council area for the past twelve months.

I would additionally suggest candidates in West Berks and Wokingham councils (especially in the areas within the Reading urban area - Calcot, Earley, Woodley etc.), but neither have elections this year.

Any thoughts on this?

[NathStPaul]

I vote Ian.

[Brogue]

Ian would make an excellent politician

[jd82]

Ticking the Ian Royal box irl would be pretty lolz tbf

[Dirk Gently]

The massive difference is that local councillors have absolutely zero powers to change this situation, whereas with Charlton they were the ones who directly had the means to make things right.

[Clyde1998]

The massive difference is that local councillors have absolutely zero powers to change this situation, whereas with Charlton they were the ones who directly had the means to make things right.

Of course that's the key difference. RBC doesn't have any direct power in this situation, whereas the Charlton situation was a planning issue which Greenwich council had a direct say in. I doubt any RBC councillor will support development of the stadium to a difference use, which is basically the only power RBC has on this issue.

I'm simply looking at how we can keep pressure on the major parties and ensure they take action on the issue of football governance. A fans' group contesting the local elections would most likely ensure the issue around the club is one of the key issues and parties would want to keep a favourable image ahead of the general election which will take place within the next year.

The football governance review concluded in late-2021, the government responded to the findings of the review in April 2022, but legislation and action since then has been very slow; I doubt anything will come forward ahead of the general election now. There doesn't appear to have been any public mention of the review by the government since February 2023.

[Dirk Gently]

The only way that we can get a political solution is to have Toby Jones star in a drama about how terrible the situation is - then the government are likely to jump on the bandwagon and start doing what they should have done years ago.

[NathStPaul]

The only way that we can get a political solution is to have Toby Jones star in a drama about how terrible the situation is - then the government are likely to jump on the bandwagon and start doing what they should have done years ago.

But who would he play?

[Uke]

The only way that we can get a political solution is to have Toby Jones star in a drama about how terrible the situation is - then the government are likely to jump on the bandwagon and start doing what they should have done years ago.

But who would he play?

Ron Grant

[BRO_BOT]

Ticking the Ian Royal box irl would be pretty lolz tbf

Yeah, Ian, make this happen

[Snowflake Royal]

Ticking the Ian Royal box irl would be pretty lolz tbf

I don’t qualify I'm afraid.

[72 bus]

The only way that we can get a political solution is to have Toby Jones star in a drama about how terrible the situation is - then the government are likely to jump on the bandwagon and start doing what they should have done years ago.

Obviously going forward the only way to get anything done in this country is via TV like People vs Post Office.
No more elections just press the red button or the green button, blue to abstain.

[Clyde1998]

Noticed Wokingham Borough Council does have elections this year. I thought they had a whole council election every four years, rather than a third of the council being up each year. In fact, due to boundary changes, the whole council is up this year.

Based off of this exchange on the Embargo thread:

Thanks, just asking as I think Reading had problems persuading the local council to let them develop the site even though it retained the site for sporting use.

That'll be Wokingham, who are just generally opposed to football in general and Reading in particular because it creates traffic on their nice middle-class roads. They scuppered the stadium expansion plan back in 2006/7.

It'll certainly be worth getting some pro RFC candidates into the local elections there then.

Wokingham Borough Council has been opposed to the club in the past; it would be good assert pressure on that council to ensure they don't approve of a change of use on the training ground should Dai sell it separately from the rest of the club.

[Dirk Gently]

Noticed Wokingham Borough Council does have elections this year. I thought they had a whole council election every four years, rather than a third of the council being up each year. In fact, due to boundary changes, the whole council is up this year.

Based off of this exchange on the Embargo thread:

That'll be Wokingham, who are just generally opposed to football in general and Reading in particular because it creates traffic on their nice middle-class roads. They scuppered the stadium expansion plan back in 2006/7.

It'll certainly be worth getting some pro RFC candidates into the local elections there then.

Wokingham Borough Council has been opposed to the club in the past; it would be good assert pressure on that council to ensure they don't approve of a change of use on the training ground should Dai sell it separately from the rest of the club.

As long as you can be sure of winning, which is a long shot. Otherwise, all you're doing is setting yourself up as enemies of the party that does win since you stood against them in the elections - making them less amenable to doing what you want when the crunch decision comes. Never underestimate the vindictiveness of politicians.

[Clyde1998]

Noticed Wokingham Borough Council does have elections this year. I thought they had a whole council election every four years, rather than a third of the council being up each year. In fact, due to boundary changes, the whole council is up this year.

Based off of this exchange on the Embargo thread:

It'll certainly be worth getting some pro RFC candidates into the local elections there then.

Wokingham Borough Council has been opposed to the club in the past; it would be good assert pressure on that council to ensure they don't approve of a change of use on the training ground should Dai sell it separately from the rest of the club.

As long as you can be sure of winning, which is a long shot. Otherwise, all you're doing is setting yourself up as enemies of the party that does win since you stood against them in the elections - making them less amenable to doing what you want when the crunch decision comes. Never underestimate the vindictiveness of politicians.

Winning, as you say, would be a long shot. At this stage, I think it's worth exploring the issue to see what could be achieved, what sort of support could be attained, etc.

Any ward where candidates of the established parties would support the fans wouldn't necessarily need to have a candidate or be seriously contested.

[Millsy]

I could do it. Would bring top class comedy to the situation.