Katesgrove is an inner-town district immediately to the south of the centre of the town of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

. It 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 The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which ...

Electoral ward

The district of Katesgrove corresponds closely to the Katesgrove electoral ward of the

Borough of Reading Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is east of Swi ...

. In addition to the traditional definition of Katesgrove (as given above), this includes a strip of land between the A33 and the River Kennet, including the flats on the site of the

Reading Central goods depot The Coley branch line ( ELR:COY), also known as the Coley goods branch, was a single-track branch railway running from the Reading to Basingstoke line at Coley Branch Junction to Reading Central goods depot. History The railway was built by ...

and the commercial buildings to the south, that would more normally be regarded as part of the district of Coley. The ward is bordered by

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

, Redlands,

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Ch ...

Whitley Whitley may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Whitley, Berkshire, a suburb of Reading *Whitley, Cheshire, a village near Warrington *Whitley, Coventry, a suburb of Coventry, West Midlands *Whitley, Essex, near Birdbrook * Whitley, Wigan, Greater M ...

and Coley wards and forms part of the

Reading East parliamentary constituency Reading East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Matt Rodda, of the Labour Party. The seat is one of two won (held or gained) by a Labour candidate in 2017 from a total of eight covering B ...

. Katesgrove elects three councillors to the

unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigroup ...

Reading Borough Council Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a cerem ...

, with each elected in separate years for a four-year term. 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 Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Li ...

, Warren Swaine, in 2008. The 2000s witnessed a surge in votes for the Liberal Democrats, resulting in 2007 with the election of Gareth Epps, the constituency's 2010 candidate who achieved second place in that election - culminating in 2010 with all Katesgrove councillors being Liberal Democrats. However, the 2011 council election saw Labour candidate

Matt Rodda Matthew Richard Allen Rodda (born 15 December 1966) is a British former journalist and civil servant, and a current Labour Party politician. He is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the Reading East parliamentary constituency and Shadow ...

, who is now MP for

Reading East Reading East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Matt Rodda, of the Labour Party. The seat is one of two won (held or gained) by a Labour candidate in 2017 from a total of eight covering ...

, elected, and over the following years Labour regained the remaining seats. 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 A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

led to the latter gaining two of the three seats. As a result, the councillors are Liam Challenger of the Labour Party, and Doug Cresswell and Louise Keane, both of the Green Party.

Notable people

* Fred Potts VC, holder of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

References

External links

*
Katesgrove Community Association
Suburbs of Reading, Berkshire Wards of Reading {{Berkshire-geo-stub