The election campaign in Reading is hotting up as Labour, the Conservatives, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats are all hoping to take seats on the council.

While certain areas are either staunchly Labour or Conservative, there are areas where the parties will compete for votes.

The Greens have been making steady progress against the Labour party in Redlands, with the Conservatives hoping to make gains from Labour in Caversham.

Meanwhile, Tilehurst is set to be hotly contested between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

READ MORE: Reading local elections 2022: full list of all candidates

There are currently 46 seats on Reading Borough Council, but boundary changes mean that there are now 48 seats up for grabs.

Below are some of the areas which the parties will battle it out for.

Tilehurst

The election in Tilehurst will be a clash between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.

It is currently represented by councillors Meri O’Connell and Ricky Duveen, both Liberal Democrats, and Helen Manghnani, a Conservative councillor.

Cllrs Duveen and Manghnani are both standing down, so both parties are eager to make gains.

READ MORE: The 12 Reading Borough Councillors standing down ahead of 2022 elections 

Former Conservative councillor Sandra Vickers will be hoping to reclaim her seat.

The Conservatives are also fielding Russell Frain and Casey Byrne.

Cllr O’Connell is standing for another term among fellow Lib Dems James Moore and Anne Thompson.

Benjamin Perry-Stone, Malcolm Powers and Sikandar Hayat are all standing for Labour, with Gabriel Berry-Kan representing the Greens.

Redlands

Redlands ward, in East Reading and the university area, is a battleground between the Green Party and Labour.

The Green Party have been progressively making gains in the area since 2019, when Green candidate Jamie Whitham beat the Labour candidate to become a councillor.

In the 2021 election, Green candidate David McElroy beat Labour’s Andrew Hornby-Smith by just 10 votes.

READ MORE: Reading's three new councillors elected in 2021 

Mr Hornby-Smith was Labour’s candidate after Tony Jones stood down after 30 years on the council.

The Greens will be hoping to get full control over Redlands with their third candidate Kathryn McCann, who stood as their representative for the Church ward last year.

Councillor David Absolom, a Labour representative for Redlands, is stepping down, with the party fielding candidates Will Cross, Marg Cobb and Amjad Tarar.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives are fielding Allison Carnell, Shivraj Hawaldar and Simon Holden.

Francis David Jakeman is the sole Liberal Democrat candidate in Redlands, having also stood in 2021.

Caversham 

This election will see a battle between Labour and the Conservatives in Caversham.

While the northern parts of Caversham are typically Conservative, the ward itself is currently held by Labour.

However, Reading Borough’s political map has been redrawn ahead of this election in a boundary review, with Labour incumbent councillors Richard Davies and Adele Barnett-Ward both standing in the Thames ward, which contains areas north and south of the river.

READ MORE: Reading local elections 2022: parties release their manifestos

Former councillor Jan Gavin is seeking to re-enter the council, previously representing Redlands ward.

It is understood that she stepped down ahead of the 2019 local elections.

She is joined by Labour candidates Matt Yeo and Jacopo Lanzoni.

Andrew Ballsdon, Ian Binge and Saadia Saadat are hoping to win seats for the Conservatives, with Juliet Laetitia standing for the Liberal Democrats and Sally Anne Newman for the Greens.