MP’s praise for new councillor

A COUNCILLOR elected to Reading Borough Council last month has been praised by a Labour MP on a visit to his ward.

Cllr Sam Juthani became Labour’s second representative in Caversham Heights after beating Conservative Paul Carnell. The ward covers north west areas of Caversham and Mapledurham.

His 1,454 votes was 130 ahead of Mr Carnell’s 1,324. There were indications that Mr Carnell’s seat was at risk when he was beaten into third place by Labour’s Sue Kitchingham during the all-out council elections last year.

Meg Hillier, the Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, recent visited and said Cllr Juthani would be a “strong, local voice” for Caversham residents.

“Victories like Sam’s show that residents are growing tired of a

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Conservative Party that looks inwards and dithers while families struggle through a cost-of-living crisis,” she said. “Labour councillors, like Sam, will be the strong voice that residents need fighting on their behalf during this crisis.”

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The MP served as a Labour councillor on Islington Borough Council from 1994 to 2002.

Her visit was arranged by Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading East, who said: “It was wonderful for Sam to meet Meg and to be congratulated on his win by such a senior figure in the Labour Party.

“She also spoke to residents and chatted to them about local issues and national politics.”

Ms Hillier has served as the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch since 2005. During that time, she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Identity (2007-2010) in the last Labour government of Gordon Brown.

She was the Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (2010-2011) under Ed Miliband, and currently serves as the chair of the public accounts committee.