Katesgrove is an inner-town district and electoral ward situated immediately to the south of the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The district and ward are largely, but not entirely, coterminous.
District
The traditional definition of the district of Katesgrove is bounded on the north by the Inner Distribution Road, on the east by Sidmouth Street, Kendrick Road and Northumberland Avenue, on the south by Long Barn Lane and Rose Kiln Lane and on the west by the River Kennet.[1]
Electoral ward
The Katesgrove electoral ward of the Borough of Reading corresponds closely to the district. In addition to the traditional definition of Katesgrove (as given above), the ward includes a strip of land between the A33 and the River Kennet, including the flats on the site of the Reading Central goods depot and the commercial buildings to the south, that would more normally be regarded as part of the districts of Coley and Coley Park. The ward is bordered by Abbey, Redlands, Church, Whitley and Coley wards and forms part of the Reading Central parliamentary constituency.[2][3]
Katesgrove elects three councillors to the unitaryReading Borough Council, with each elected in separate years for a four-year term.[4] Traditionally an area of strength for the Labour Party, one of Katesgrove's councillors was Labour's David Sutton, who was leader of the council for thirteen years before his defeat by a Liberal Democrat, Warren Swaine, in 2008.[5] The 2000s witnessed a surge in votes for the Liberal Democrats, resulting in 2007 with the election of Gareth Epps, who, in the 2010 general election, contested the Reading East constituency and achieved second place in that election - culminating in 2010 with all Katesgrove councillors being Liberal Democrats.[6][7] However, the 2011 council election saw Labour candidate Matt Rodda, who is now MP for Reading Central, elected, and over the following years Labour regained the remaining seats.[8]
In the 2022 election, at which all councillors faced re-election because of boundary changes, a swing from the Labour Party to the Green Party led to the latter gaining two of the three seats. As of 2024, the councillors are Doug Cresswell, Louise Keane and Kate Nikulina, all of the Green Party.[9]
