Chairman of the Council

The Chairman is the formal representative of the District Council and considered the "first citizen" of the district.

They officiate at civic functions and welcome distinguished visitors of national and international significance on behalf of the district. The role is supported by the Vice-Chairman, who can act as a delegate.

The Chairman's charity is Good Hope Farm, a charity that helps adults with learning disabilities build confidence and improve their well being.

Read the Chairman's Diary to find out about the events and activities the Chairman has been involved in.

 

Introducing West Berkshire Council's Chairman for 2025 to 2026

Tony Vickers has been a Councillor in West Berkshire for nearly 20 of the 30 years since he retired from the Army in January 1995. He was elected for Kintbury Ward of Newbury District Council that year and chaired the District Council committee preparing for an all-unitary Berkshire in 1998. Although he lost his seat in 1997 and wasn't elected again until 2003 (for Northcroft Ward in Newbury), he now represents Kintbury again, as one of the three councillors for Hungerford and Kintbury Ward.

With his wife Martha - also a West Berkshire Councillor - he has lived in central Newbury since 1987. They have three grown-up children, all educated locally but living in east Asia. The family came to the area in 1980, when Tony trained to become a Military Survey officer at Denison Barracks Hermitage, joining the Army in 1975 after 10 years in housebuilding.

In between his council commitments, building on his previous careers in development and defence mapping, Tony was Chief Executive for 4 years of a charity that promotes the study of land economics. He then undertook a PhD on land value mapping for Britain at Kingston University, becoming a part-time lecturer on Green Economics until 2016.

Tony's main interests as a Councillor have been Planning, Housing and Transport. Outside of politics he was a walking holiday leader for 20 years until Covid and has served on the Mid and West Berkshire Local Access Forum for 20 years.

Since 2023, Tony has represented West Berkshire Council on the North Wessex Downs National Landscape Council of Partners and is currently its Vice Chairman. Brought up in the Devon countryside, he is passionate about the need to adapt rural land management and food production to the challenges of climate change.

Contact the Chairman's Office

To invite the Chairman to an event, please email: chairman@westberks.gov.uk. Please read through our  Chairman's Protocol [76KB] .

For queries and questions about West Berkshire Council's elected members, please email: memberservices@westberks.gov.uk.

You can find Councillor Tony Vickers's full contact details here.