The leader of the Liberal Democrats has visited Wokingham to announce hopes to smash the Conservatives’ ‘Blue Wall’.

Recently, councillor Clive Jones (Hawkedon) was announced as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the Wokingham constituency.

Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats nationally and MP for Kingston and Surbiton, visited Wokingham to congratulate cllr Jones and rally party supporters ahead of the May Local Elections.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to Mr Davey about the Liberal Democrats’ chances of winning the Wokingham seat from long time Conservative MP Sir John Redwood.

READ MORE: Wokingham council move to all out elections hit with 'inaccuracy' accusation

Mr Davey said: “Our message is that the Conservatives have been taking people here for granted, and if you want to change, you want to get rid of Boris Johnson and John Redwood and want a different approach, the Liberal Democrats are the only party that can deliver that here.

“There’ll be lots of Labour supporters who’ll think seriously about getting behind Clive and the Liberal Democrats to get rid of the Conservatives.

“But also there’ll be a lot of Conservatives who are fed up to the back teeth of being taken for granted and are pretty unhappy with Boris Johnson, and realise that actually the Conservatives have left them behind.

“They no longer care enough about small businesses, the self-employed, they’re not focused on the health service, and people see cost of living going up, tax going up, waiting lists are going up, and they are wondering what the Government is doing.

We found that in Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire.”

Mr Davey referred to the party’s two by-election victories last year, with the win in Chesham and Amersham in June and in North Shropshire in December.

He added: “People want to vote for better education, better schools, and a better run economy the Liberal Democrats can offer that.”

READ MORE: MP accused of receiving 'Russian' big money donations 

During the visit, Mr Davey also met with the First Days Children’s Charity at the Business Centre in Molly Millars Lane, where he learnt about the work the charity does to support disadvantaged families with early years development and education.

The Liberal Democrats have also celebrated receiving over 700 signatures for a petition to Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities calling on him to reduce Government housebuilding targets in Wokingham Borough.

The housebuilding target in the Borough currently stands at 786 new homes being built per year.

When asked why cllr Jones has been announced as the Lib Dem candidate now, when the next election is not scheduled until 2024, Mr Davey said: “Because we work all the time, not just at elections.

“We go and knock on doors and talk to people and listen to them, find out the issues and try to help them between elections.

“The political parties that turn up only during elections are taking voters for granted and we’re not going to do that. We’re working all year round to listen to people and win them over.”