Infighting, resignations, and a ‘coup’ rock the Medway... Greens?

Plus new proposals to restrict traffic in Rochester High Street, street ambassadors off to a strong start, news in brief, and more

You don’t usually look to the Medway Greens when you want high political drama. That has changed in the last month, though, with accusations of a ‘coup’ by a ‘militant activist’ labelled ‘toxic’ and ‘aggressive.’ We’ve been talking to those within the party and others to try to understand what is going on. Further down, we have news of new potential restrictions on traffic using Rochester High Street, a follow-up on the Chatham ‘street ambassadors,’ news in brief, and more.

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Infighting, resignations, and a ‘coup’ rock the Medway... Greens?

It started with a series of messages from Green Party activists, each describing the same thing: a political coup in miniature within their branch. By the end of the Medway Green Party’s AGM on 17 July, a ‘militant activist’ was in charge, most of the previous leadership had either walked out or quit in the days that followed.

Until last month, the party was one of the quieter corners of local politics. They had no councillors, a modest but loyal membership, and their internal disputes rarely spilt into public view. That changed with one meeting that ended with Matthew Broadley elected chair and a string of disgruntled activists left in his wake.

Medway Green Party activists. Matthew Broadley is on the far left.

Broadley, a former Labour activist whose expulsion from that party was preceded by a series of controversies and disputes, secured the chairmanship in a vote that his critics call an orchestrated takeover that ignored party rules and saw people who were not members allowed to vote.

The departures have been sweeping. Several senior members of the local executive, including the former chair, vice chair, and secretary, have gone. Matt Nightingale, the party’s most successful candidate who came within 50 votes of winning a council seat in 2023, was on the executive until the AGM, but resigned both from the local party and the Greens nationally during the meeting. He says the events of July were the culmination of more than a year of disruption caused by Broadley, describing him as “aggressive, antagonistic and militant” in his behaviour towards colleagues.

According to Nightingale, Broadley sabotaged a campaign because he was not chosen as the candidate, attacked those he disagreed with, and blocked the work of others when it did not match his personal preferences. “This was very much a near all-executive versus Broadley situation,” he said. “The scale of the issue was huge, and yet over six months of back and forth with the national party’s Alternative Disputes Resolution Committee, no resolution was found. He has been allowed to continue unchallenged.”

Nightingale says that at the AGM, Broadley invited a “swathe” of new members and even non-members to attend and vote. “Following the AGM, an audit of attendees indicated that up to five people present, who Broadley invited, were not in fact members, yet all cast votes,” he said. “He even nominated someone to be treasurer who joined the party less than 24 hours earlier and failed to submit their nomination before the deadline. He has no regard for due process or code of conduct.”

An anonymous former member, who also left during the AGM, accused Broadley of taking on almost every executive role. Another cited an ongoing investigation into Broadley's conduct.

In a statement issued by the Medway Green Party, Broadley did not respond directly to any of the allegations, but pointed to the “wonderful growth and diversification in membership” since last year’s General Election. He said this reflected a wider national increase in Green Party membership of nearly 10% in the last three months. “All members regularly participate in open democratic processes aligned with our values, giving up their free time to fight for a fairer, thriving Medway. Our party welcomes all who join.”

The national party echoed his statement and declined to offer any further comment.

Broadley’s critics say this pattern is not new. A former Labour source, speaking anonymously, said it was “no surprise” that Broadley had alienated enough people within the Greens to need to organise what they called a personal takeover. They linked his behaviour to the controversies that saw him deselected as Labour’s candidate for Luton and Wayfield in 2019 and ultimately suspended from the party. “The brutal fact is, he doesn’t have any politics. He simply craves any sort of structure where he can have influence for the sake of having influence. This relentless interfering, obstructing and harassment actually brought people from completely different factional backgrounds together, because having to deal with his behaviour gave them more in common than the things that divided them.”

One Labour councillor was even less diplomatic. “He’s like Medway’s very own Talented Mr Ripley, without any of the talent,” they said. “He does the same shtick in every group he joins. Bumbles into them like a malicious idiot, failing upwards in spaces that have low barriers to entry, and causes chaos until people who have lives outside of these groups decide the aggro isn’t worth their time. Until he’s all that’s left, with a cadre of useful idiots who need to be part of a group so badly that they hang around making excuses for his behaviour.”

Others in local activism share similar experiences. A member of Medway Stand Up to Racism said they had blocked Broadley from joining the group several times due to behaviour which they said went against the group’s core values. “He has a tendency to contrive and manipulate things to make people leave or start unnecessary infighting,” they said. “These are usually based on his fantasist nature mixed with strong ideological views. It makes many members uncomfortable and takes focus away from the purpose they are there for.”

Broadley has also continued to clash with Labour figures since his expulsion. In April 2024, a Medway Council meeting took an unusually personal turn when Labour’s culture portfolio holder, Cllr Harinder Mahil, accused Broadley of being behind a hostile public question about why he had not attended any Ramadan events. Mahil said his brother was dying from terminal cancer at the time, that the question was part of a grudge, and concluded by calling Broadley “a prick” in the council chamber.

Since the AGM, the Medway Green Party’s social media channels have been silent, and there has been little sign of activity within the party. The new executive largely comprises Broadley and his allies, with most of the outgoing leadership gone. For a local party that had been hoping to build on solid results in recent years, the sudden rupture leaves them with an untested leadership and a depleted pool of activists.

Whether Broadley can rebuild the branch around a new base of supporters or ends up presiding over a hollowed-out organisation will become clear soon enough. For now, the Medway Greens have joined the long list of small political parties in Medway whose internal drama has overshadowed anything else they might have been trying to achieve.

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Rochester High Street car ban could extend to Sundays

Last year, we covered the small but surprisingly loud row when the chain barriers vanished from Northgate on Rochester High Street, and ANPR cameras took over. These chains stopped drivers from entering the High Street during its Saturday pedestrianised period, but instead, cameras and signs were left to control entry. Some claimed the signs were too easy to miss and muttered about the whole thing being more about cash than keeping pedestrians safe. Others pointed out that if you still managed to drive into a pedestrian zone with all those signs around, you probably deserved the fine.

Those cameras haven’t exactly been idle. In their first year on the job, Medway Council dished out 4,757 fines to drivers who ignored the Saturday rules and rolled through the High Street anyway. At £60 a pop, that’s just over £285,000 from one camera. Whether you call that a deterrent or a tidy little earner probably depends on which side of the windscreen you’re on.

The council now fancies going bigger. A new consultation, launched yesterday, suggests making the Saturday 10am to 4pm ban on most vehicles stretch to Sundays and bank holidays as well. Theoretically, this gives pedestrians more room to wander, browse and explore the High Street without worrying about dodging cars.

Medway Council’s highly detailed and readable map of the proposals for Rochester High Street.

The remaining chain barriers would be binned, with new ANPR cameras at Blue Boar Lane, Crow Lane and Boley Hill handling enforcement. The cameras would also watch for anyone ignoring the existing banned turns from Boley Hill into the High Street. Emergency services and other approved vehicles would still be allowed through, but no one else.

Cllr Alex Paterson, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Highways and Enforcement, says:

“We want people to be able to enjoy visiting Rochester, whether it’s for the fantastic range of shops, restaurants and bars or our iconic heritage sites. By proposing to extend the well established no vehicle restriction to include Sundays and bank holidays, we are looking to put pedestrians first along the high street whilst people are out and enjoying themselves across the weekend. I would encourage all residents to take a look at these proposals and make sure they have their say.”

If the plan goes ahead, there will be a six-month grace period where your first offence gets you a letter instead of a fine. After that, the Penalty Charge Notices start landing. The council says the income will cover the cost of the scheme and go back into the transport network, although that is unlikely to silence the more cynical voices.

The consultation is open until midnight on 21 September, and responses can be submitted here. If approved, Rochester High Street could be car-free for peak weekend hours. Potentially questionable enforcement methods aside, it’s hard to see many downsides in a safer, more accessible High Street, and no doubt, that’s what we’ll be getting, whatever the consultation responses might say.

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Street ambassadors off to a strong start

Last week, wrote about Chatham’s new ‘street ambassadors,’ who despite the name, are clearly private security guards patrolling the High Street. While Medway Council might be eager to pitch them as being there to provide advice and guidance in the town centre, there seems to be a larger mission of trying to make the town feel a bit safer and provide a deterrent for those who might behave antisocially.

So, as the scheme gets underway, how much are they managing to do to improve the perception of the town centre? If one recent TikTok is to be believed, it’s not off to a great start.

@shiggsy85Popped into Chatham High Street for 5 minutes and I got my Attenborough on to record the animals 😂😂 what a return to the ends! #chatham #medway #medwaytowns #scrap #chav #police #security #badman #tik_tok #gillingham #rainham #rochester #strood #madness

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The video shows the sort of altercation that seems to be sadly common in the centre of Chatham, with two men squaring up to each other in the street while one hurls racist abuse at the other. As the men walk down the street, all four of Chatham’s ambassadors meander into the scene and gently try to keep the two men apart. They don’t do a great job, though, as within minutes, at least two punches are thrown, which the four ambassadors are unable to stop. Despite the clear violence and racial abuse, at no point do they attempt to detain either man, nor is there any indication that the police have been called. Instead, they attempt to walk them in different directions, free to return and have another go later.

Now, this isn’t to judge the actions of those employed in the role. It doesn’t seem an enviable position to be in, nor are they presumably particularly well paid for their efforts, given that the entire scheme is at a cost of £27,000. But if four security guards/ambassadors/whatever you want to call them can’t deal with two middle-aged men squaring up to each other in the middle of Chatham High Street in daytime, exactly how much can their being there change the perception of Chatham for the better?

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In brief

🔎 The HM Inspectorate of Prisons has issued a mixed report on HMP Rochester. Inspectors found improvements had been made in reducing violence and self-harm, and living conditions had been improved. On the other hand, they also raised serious concerns about the availability of drugs and the provision of health services.

🏭 You might have noticed a strong gas smell across much of Medway yesterday. The Odeon in Chatham was evacuated, alongside the MHS Homes headquarters, but neither was the cause. Reassuringly, no one seems to know where the gas came from, though a facility on the Isle of Grain is believed to be a likely culprit.

🏗️ Gravesend contractor O’Halloran & O’Brien has secured the contract to carry out enabling works for the former civic centre site in Strood. The £150m project will eventually create 195, but it will take until 2028 to get the site ready for construction.

🗳️ Rather unusually, a parish council by-election has been scheduled for next month. Three candidates are vying for the seat on Grain Parish Council, with voters set to go to the polls on 4 September.

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More Authority

The new football season is underway, and with that comes a new season of hope and potential despair at Priestfield. Our Gills columnist Ben Hopkins assessed the team’s chances for the coming season and definitely decided that.. well, you’ll have to read the whole piece for that.

We also published our big interview with River Medway, the breakout star from RuPaul’s Drag Race, who featured in a full Waghorn outfit on the show. Steven talked to her about that iconic look, becoming River Medway, her upcoming musical tour, and lots more.

The full versions of both pieces are only available to our paid supporters, who keep this entire project running for everyone else. To celebrate our fourth birthday, you can get 25% off the regular price for a whole year, giving you access to multiple editions of our journalism every week.

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Footnotes

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• Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Compliments Please by Self Esteem, Welcome to Condale by Summer Camp, and Hearts of Gold by Dollar Signs.