Battle (Reading ward)
{{Short description|Electoral ward in Reading, Berkshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Battle is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated to the west of the town centre, south of the River Thames, and is bordered by Kentwood, Caversham Heights, Thames, Abbey, Coley, Southcote and Norcot wards. Most of the ward lies within the parliamentary constituency of Reading Central, although two small portions at its western boundary are within Reading West and Mid Berkshire.{{cite map |title=Election Maps |publisher=Ordnance Survey |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/?x=469430&y=174036&z=8&bnd1=UTW&bnd2=WMC&labels=on |access-date=16 January 2025}}
The ward takes its name indirectly from the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England. William the Conqueror gave land in and around Reading to his foundation of Battle Abbey, and this led to the naming of Battle Farm and the, now closed, Battle Hospital, both of which were within the ward's boundary.{{cite book |last1=Ditchfield |last2=Page |first1=P. H. |first2=William |author-link=Peter Ditchfield |author-link2=William Page (historian) |title=A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3 |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=300 |series=Victoria County History |publisher=Archibald Constable |location=London, UK |year=1923 |access-date=24 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031010322/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=300 |archive-date=31 October 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all |pp=342–364}}
The ward covers a large stretch of the town's Oxford Road and its largely terraced side streets, although it also includes a large area of uninhabited flood plain between the railway and the River Thames that is best known as the site of Reading Festival.{{cite news |url=https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/23477643.reading-councillor-expelled-labour-party/ |title=Reading councillor expelled from the Labour Party |first=James |last=Aldridge |date=25 April 2023 |work=Reading Chronicle |access-date=16 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426000100/https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/23477643.reading-councillor-expelled-labour-party/ |archive-date=26 April 2023 |url-status=live}} The area is ethnically diverse and has significant Afro-Caribbean and South Asian populations.{{cite needed|date=January 2025}}
As with all Reading wards, the ward elects three councillors to Reading Borough Council. Elections since 2004 are generally held by thirds, with elections in three years out of four, although the 2022 elections were for all councillors due to the boundary changes. The ward councillors are currently Wendy Griffith and Amjad Tarar, who are members of the Labour party, and Sarah Hacker, a former Mayor of Reading and member of the Labour Party who now sits as an independent.{{cite web |title=Your Councillors |url=https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0 |accessdate=15 January 2025 |publisher=Reading Borough Council |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20250115161531/https://democracy.reading.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0 |archivedate=15 January 2025 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/wheres-reading-heading-just-picture-9922744 |title=Where's Reading Heading? just picture it says Mayor Sarah Hacker |first=Linda |last=Fort |date=25 August 2015 |work=Get Reading |access-date=16 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912105838/https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/wheres-reading-heading-just-picture-9922744 |archive-date=12 September 2015 |url-status=live}}