The Liberal Democrats believe they could 'absolutely' win in Wokingham as its deputy leader visited the borough last week. 

Daisy Cooper said the party wants to “capitalise on the momentum” of recent by-election wins, most notably in Tiverton and Honiton where they over-turned a Conservative majority of 24,000, by campaigning in areas where it feels there is a “good chance of winning” at the next general election. 

The MP for St Albans said: “Whenever the next general election is you can be sure that we will be fighting incredibly hard to win the support, the trust and the votes of as many residents as possible here in Wokingham.” 

The latest YouGov poll suggests that the Liberal Democrats could win the seat should a general election be held tomorrow – as it predicts the Conservatives are set to lose 26 of their 64 Lib Dem battleground seats. 

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The party came second in the 2019 general election, behind former Conservative Party leader John Redwood who has held the seat since 1987. 

Mr Redwood won a majority of 11.9 per cent, however, this was seven per cent down on the 2017 election with the Liberal Democrat candidate, Phillip Lee, growing the parties vote share by 21.8 per cent. 

The party will be hoping to replicate its results at the recent local elections, where it gained five seats and by forming a partnership with the Labour and Independent parties, took overall control of the council for the first time since 1997. 

Councillor Clive Jones, who was subsequently instilled as the council leader and is the parties’ parliamentary candidate, said the poll is a “warning shot” to Mr Redwood as residents are “sick to the back teeth”. 

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“For too long John Redwood and their Conservative Government has taken our area for granted. […] they have failed our local health service, hiked our taxes, pumped sewage into our rivers, sold out our farmers [and] left our education system worse off,” Cllr Jones said. 

Mrs Cooper spoke to residents on the doorstep about the issues concerning them, which included the developer-led planning system, social care and budget pressures. 

She said the Liberal Democrats will be focusing on a “community led” planning system and claims residents are “fed up” with the government “putting party above the national interest”. 

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“It’s a sign of the times that, when people are struggling to put petrol in their cars and food on the table, we have a Conservative party that is stuck in its internal party-political wars,” Mrs Cooper added. 

“What people are saying to us is ‘they take us for granted’, they are not getting the help that they need [and] they're very scared for the future. […] we are the one’s speaking up for families who are really struggling.” 

Mr Redwood did not respond when approached for a comment.