The Liberal Democrat party have officially opened their permanent offices in Wokingham with the help of one of the parties MPs.
The Wokingham Liberal Democrats have established their headquarters at Indigo House in the Mulberry Business Park, Fishponds Road, Wokingham.
Party activists celebrated the opening with a ribbon cutting event which was attended by Christine Jardine Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West.
The event was hosted by councillor Clive Jones (Liberal Democrats, Hawkedon), Wokingham Borough Council leader and the parties parliamentary candidate for the Wokingham constituency.
READ MORE: Liberal Democrats increasingly confident of smashing 'Blue Wall' in Wokingham
Until now, the Liberal Democrats have organised events at members households and in hired venues.
Explaining the importance of the opening, cllr Jones said: “It gives us a headquarters, a focus where we can all go rather than different people’s houses around the borough.
“It allows us to all come together very often, there’s nearly always someone here now, from 9.30am right through to the evening.”
Ms Jardine interjected: “It’s important for the people here and the voters who have actually put the Liberal Democrats in this position.
“It’s because of their support that this office is now open.
“A) it reflects what they are saying, that they want more Liberal Democrats and B) it’s a place that they can come to and be in touch with their Liberal Democrat representatives.”
The opening took place at midday on Friday, January 27.
It comes as Liberal Democrats are increasingly confident of smashing ‘the Blue Wall’, which has been used to describe areas that typically vote Conservative but flip to the Labour or Lib Dems at the next general election.
Locally, the Lib Dems won five seats in the borough council elections last year, ending the Conservative’s 20 year reign of the council from 2002 to 2022.
Cllr Jones continued: “It’s a very important step in our development.
“When I joined the council, there were five of us, there is now 23 of us and we’re running it, so every year we have an important step and now we have an office where we can work from, can do campaigning, we can do an awful lot from here.”
The Lib Dems first moved into the office on December 16, 2022, but it’s taken until now to get the office ready, including furnishings and fittings.
Ms Jardine said: “People know that we’re here, that they can come and ask questions, they can come to us with problems, and go to their councillors.
“That’s the other important thing about the Liberal Democrats, as a party we are available to the people who vote for us, and to those who don’t vote for us.
“It’s a reflection of how hard they’ve been working, to now have this office and be available to people living in this constituency.
The Wokingham Conservative office is located at 30 Rose Court.
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