Inside Reading Council: What life is really like running this town

The deputy leader of Reading Council talks candidly about local politics, criticism and community

Abuse on social media. Endless meetings. Constant criticism. Reading councillor Micky Leng says local politics is often thankless, but after spending time with him, I discovered a more complicated - and human - picture of the people who run our town.

(This is an edited extract from a story originally published by The Reading Reporter. The full version is available on Substack.)

Micky Leng likes to talk.

No – he really likes to talk.

Today, Reading Borough Council’s deputy leader is talking about plans for a new district heat system, an ambitious net-zero proposal. He’s proud of its aims – use Reading’s rivers and aquifers to source heat for its buildings, and make clean heating more accessible to local communities, particularly deprived ones.

But talking has another benefit: when he’s talking, Cllr Leng doesn’t have to listen – which must be nice, because he does listen to a lot of criticism.

Some of it is fair – he’ll admit that – and some is not. He hides it, but it does irritate him.

“Residents think that we’re all powerful,” says Cllr Leng, who represents Whitley and lives there.

“So we’re either incompetent and mess everything up, or we’re so clever that we can have this massive conspiracy where we’re all taking backhanders and getting paid thousands and thousands of pounds.”

You can feel his exasperation. It’s a feeling shared by many residents – but often for different reasons. “We’ve only got a certain amount of leverage,” Cllr Leng insists.

Howls of protest will echo across the streets, unless the traffic noise drowns them out. The £42.8million headline increase announced in last December’s new spending settlement – £8.4m additional funding from central government over four years, plus council tax rises – may sharpen the pitch.

The thing is though… he’s kind of right, isn’t he?

Want to know the reality of being a councillor in Reading?

Read the full story for free on Substack, where I reveal what Micky Leng really thinks about power, public pressure and fighting to get the town "finished". 

Read more: “You’re rubbish, but you work hard!”: What it's really like running Reading Council

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See you there,

Chris (The Reading Reporter)