Hello all! I'm Kathryn Allman, standing for Spencers Wood and Swallowfield on 7th May 2026 as the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) candidate.

Full statement

I'm a mum to two primary age children, living on Croft Gardens. I'm running because I've struggled, and watched neighbours struggle, to access the basics our community needs: school places, dentists, GPs, referrals, children's mental health support, SEND provision.

Take Alder Grove Primary. This week they announced that the catchment radius for September entry is 0.289 miles. Children are being pushed out of their own community to schools miles away. Not every parent drives, and plenty are juggling multiple drop offs, work and caring responsibilities. The council knew the demographics. The developers knew the demand. Neither built the infrastructure, because it eats into profit margins.

Here's what I'll push for:

• Build the new Spencers Wood primary on Croft Gardens, and make it two form entry instead of one

• ⁠Refuse to sign off new developments until school, GP and SEND provision is in place first, not promised later

• ⁠Address the Shinfield Meadows misallocation. £111m raised was diverted elsewhere, including to Bohunt in Arborfield, which most of our children can't access. Developers should have to provide funds to ensure all children thrive in a school they can walk to. We shouldn’t have to choose which community has accessible and good quality education.

On tax and cuts, I won't choose between the two. I'm not going to vote for council tax rises that punish working families for shortfalls in central government funding, and I'm not going to vote for cuts to services either. That means using the council's reserves and prudential borrowing powers to protect what we have, and demanding government properly fund local councils instead of squeezing residents.

We live in a system set up to fail ordinary people. I don't accept that, and I don't think you should either. We deserve to thrive in our communities, not just survive in them.