Reading West
Labour hold

The feisty Martin Salter, a rebel in late 2000 over his party's proposal partially to sell off the air traffic control service, faces another struggle to hold his seat in the forthcoming General Election. As in Reading East, the seat is divided between Reading unitary authority wards (in this case more solidly Labour) and a more Conservatives set of suburbs, largely along the river Thames in pleasant Pangbourne, Purley, and Tilehurst. This seat requires an even smaller swing than East, just over three pc, and like East it is a toss-up to be watched very closely.

Martin Salter, an estuarially-accented cheeky-chappy, has moved from Blairite loyalism to rebellious mode on air traffic control privatisation, whilst also heading-up a campaign of resistance against bank branch closures. A former Reading Councillor (and deputy leader), elected here in 1997, he was born in 1954 and educated at Hampton Grammar School and Sussex University, and now resists overcrowding of jobs and housing in the booming Thames corridor. His possible Conservative nemesis is Stephen Reid, a computer consultant, previously recalled as the Tory who lost the Eastleigh byelection to the Liberal Democrats in 1994 and failed to win the seat back in 1997. Born 1951 and educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School, Basingstoke and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, as a Basingstoke councillor for seven years he claims to have sold off more council houses than any other local authority.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 9.86% 14.99% 65.78 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.01% 2.13% 0.47 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.67% 2.49% 66.99 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 9.16% 4.43% 207.03 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 14.91% 7.27% 204.98 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 3.46% 2.56% 134.93 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.92% 2.04% 45.31 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 2.37% 3.94% 59.98 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 14.28% 13.04% 109.48 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 11.95% 12.70% 94.08 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 9.98% 8.14% 122.60 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 5.32% 4.02% 132.38 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 2.15% 3.19% 67.54 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 10.21% 11.31% 90.23 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 2.88% 3.06% 94.16 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.80% 2.52% 31.65 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.07% 0.06% 111.18

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 5.93% 9.41% 63.02 £5-10K 12.15% 16.63% 73.04 £10-15K 14.32% 16.58% 86.35 £15-20K 13.42% 13.58% 98.81 £20-25K 11.36% 10.39% 109.29 £25-30K 9.15% 7.77% 117.65 £30-35K 7.19% 5.79% 124.09 £35-40K 5.59% 4.33% 128.91 £40-45K 4.32% 3.27% 132.44 £45-50K 3.35% 2.48% 134.94 £50-55K 2.60% 1.90% 136.64 £55-60K 2.03% 1.47% 137.72 £60-65K 1.59% 1.15% 138.32 £65-70K 1.26% 0.91% 138.55 £70-75K 1.00% 0.72% 138.51 £75-80K 0.79% 0.57% 138.26 £80-85K 0.64% 0.46% 137.84 £85-90K 0.51% 0.37% 137.30 £90-95K 0.42% 0.31% 136.68 £95-100K 0.34% 0.25% 135.99 £100K + 1.75% 1.34% 130.40