Council by-election · Reading Borough: Caversham Heights ward · Thursday, 26 November 2026
This is where politics meets your life.
Before anyone asks for your vote: what the official record says about the area around this area, from planning to local statistics, and who represents you now.
Life in Reading Borough: Caversham Heights ward: the official facts
Official open data about the area. It describes the place, not you, and it favours no candidate.
People claiming unemployment-related benefits
75 people in Caversham Heights ward, 1.4% of residents aged 16–64, against 4.1% across England (September 2026).
Claimant count, Office for National Statistics via Nomis (Open Government Licence). It counts people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit while required to seek work; it is not the same as the unemployment rate.
House prices in Reading
Average price £350,501, down 0.4% on a year earlier (August 2026).
Flats and maisonettes: £224,077
Detached houses: £714,640
Source: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index for the local authority (Open Government Licence). A local-authority average; prices within it vary widely.
Recorded crime nearby, August 2026
143 street-level crimes recorded within about a mile of the area's centre.
violent crime: 44
other theft: 23
drugs: 18
public order: 14
shoplifting: 10
anti social behaviour: 9
Source: data.police.uk (Open Government Licence). Centroid of the ONS 2024 boundary. Statistics near this point describe the area, not any household. Recorded crime reflects reporting and policing as well as offending; see the ONS guidance in further reading.
Who represents you now
Councillors for Caversham Heights, as recorded after the May 2026 elections:
Isobel Ballsdon, Conservative and Unionist
Jenny McGrother, Labour Party
Saadia Saadat, Conservative and Unionist
This by-election fills a seat that has fallen vacant since then, so one of those listed may no longer hold it.
Across the whole of Reading council (48 seats in 2026): Conservative 5, Labour 29, Liberal Democrat 3, Green 11. Run by: Labour, with a majority.
Councillors and council make-up from Open Council Data (public domain). The council's own website lists current councillors and how to contact them.
