Labour loses overall control of Medway Council
Plus budget provides no real surprises, no elected mayor anytime soon, Medway MP uses Reform style ads, news in brief, and more
It’s often said that a week is a long time in politics. Medway has very much proved that rule this week. In our last Tuesday briefing, Medway (alongside Kent) was on track for devolution next year, we had no Reform councillors, and we hadn’t seen the plans for this year’s budget. A week later, devolution is off, Reform won two of three by-elections last week, and there’s already been time for a furore and u-turn with the budget. We’ve got the full details on all that, and lots more, below.
Labour loses overall control of Medway Council
Following Thursday’s by-elections in Medway, Labour has formally lost its majority on Medway Council.
After losing two seats to Reform, the party now has 29 of the 59 available seats on the council, one short of a majority. The party remains the largest group by some margin, so it will continue as a minority administration.
In reality, this will likely mean very little for the running of the council. Labour’s position is slightly strengthened by the fact that two independent councillors, Stephen Hubbard and Satinder Shokar, are currently suspended from the party but still likely to support the party when required.
We have more on that further down. For now, let’s look back at the by-elections held in Medway on Thursday.
In Gillingham South, Labour managed to cling on to the seat, but by a narrower margin than they will be comfortable with given this was one of the party’s safest wards.
Labour saw its vote share in the ward drop 20%, but this still left it with 37% of the vote, ahead of the 27% polled by Reform candidate Rizvi Rawoof. Given the party's little campaigning, Reform's figure will make Labour uncomfortable. Still, Labour did enough to get over the line, with the voters electing Liubov Nestorova as their new councillor.
Elsewhere, the Conservatives will be disappointed by the result given their work in the ward, but their vote share aligns with how they did in 2023. The Greens put in a respectable performance in fourth place, while Lib Dem Onyx Rist somehow came fifth in a ‘two-horse’ race their party had been shouting about throughout the campaign. It turned out the ward was indeed a two-horse race, but that race didn’t involve the Lib Dems. The SDP seemed satisfied with their 69 votes, though one has to wonder why the Heritage Party even bothered, with their non-existent campaign gathering a grand total of 12 votes.
Of course, the real drama was over in Rochester East & Warren Wood, where Reform managed to see off Labour to win both seats in the ward.
It was a fairly close result, with just 21 votes separating the second-place Reform candidate from the best-performing Labour candidate. Still, under our system, a win is a win, so David Finch and John Vye were elected as councillors despite the enthusiastic efforts of at least one Labour activist who attempted to push for multiple recounts.
Further down, the results were rather similar to Gillingham South. The Conservatives came in a distant third despite a solid campaigning effort in the ward, with the Greens being the only other candidate to hit triple figures. The Lib Dems didn’t bother doing anything but weren’t far behind, and once again, the Heritage Party came dead last with a pathetic number of votes.
As always, parties will undoubtedly do a lot of ‘soul searching’ and ‘learn lessons’ as a result of the outcome, but it is clear that Labour is currently struggling to keep its voters on board in Medway. By-elections are fickle, so Labour may well be able to steady the ship in the years ahead, but no doubt some in the party will start to panic about their current position.
Now Reform has their first elected councillors in Medway, what will their priorities be? We contacted the two councillors to find out, and they told us that waste, crime, and roads would be their initial priorities:
Your newly elected Councillors David & John are both honoured to have been elected to represent the people of Rochester East & Warren Wood on Medway Council.
This result shows that residents are ready for real change, and we're committed to standing up for them - fighting for less waste, cleaner streets, and holding the Police Commissioner accountable for a safer community, as well as pushing Medway Council to prioritise road repairs and improve the condition of the pavements.
Reform UK is here to shake things up, and this is just the beginning.
Alongside Reform's two seats won by the by-election, the group has already grown to three councillors, with independent Chris Spalding formally joining the group. As a result, the group will be eligible for things like committee placements, which will give them a voice in Medway Council debates.
Rochester East & Warren Wood is a three councillor ward, meaning they share responsibility for the ward with Labour’s Deputy Leader Teresa Murray. We asked her what she thought of their win and whether she could see any common ground where they could work together. She responded:
I was very disappointed not to see my Labour colleagues elected after a hard fought campaign, both would have made excellent councillors who had strong local knowledge and really cared about our community. The new Reform councillors did not disclose their plans for representing my constituents preferring instead to concentrate on their Party’s national positions in their election materials which I disagree with for example blaming migration for things that are going wrong, saying the NHS should not be free. Neither of them live in the Ward nor did they mention any local issues in their materials.
Speaking to Local Authority, Medway Council Leader Vince Maple called the result “a difficult night.” He went on to say that he had “no support for the vast majority of Reform candidates” and that “lots of them have come from a challenging background and have views I don’t agree with” but said he would attempt to “work with all 58 other councillors" and that he wanted to “work with them positively.”
Budget provides no real surprises
Medway Council must pass a balanced budget in the coming weeks. Given the challenges the council continues to face in balancing the books, the proposed budget offers little difference to last year.
Of course, the biggest detail is that the council has once again requested Exceptional Financial Support from the government, seeking £8.4m to cover this year’s overspend and a further £18.5m to reach a balanced figure next year.
While it is not confirmed the council will be granted this support, it seems nearly certain that they will, given that a refusal would result in Medway having to issue a Section 114 notice, which effectively renders the authority bankrupt.
Medway also requested further government support, asking to increase council tax beyond the legal 5% maximum. This request, along with a request for greater flexibility on government grants, was refused.
The version of the budget presented to Cabinet today is based primarily around income generation rather than cuts to services.
Some headline figures in the budget:
Council tax to rise by 4.994%
Car parking fees to increase by 60p at every level, representing an increase of up to 46%
Rochester Castle entrance fee to increase by 12%
Some sports centre memberships to increase by up to 15%
The majority of other fees are set to increase by 5 to 10%
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Medway Council budget with at least one own goal. This year’s one came to light when Deputy Leader of the Independent Group Michael Pearce highlighted that the budget proposed giving Medway councillors a 50% discount at the council’s leisure centres.
Within a couple of days, Medway Council Leader Vince Maple made it clear that the administration would no longer be supporting that idea, placing the blame on the Employment Matters committee (chaired by Labour and majority held by Labour).
During today’s budget meeting, Cllr Murray described the argument as ‘a grubby exchange of lies’, while others cited misinformation over the issue. This is slightly odd as it is difficult to find another interpretation of the words presented within the budget report itself:
Medway Council will hold its budget meeting on 27 February, where they will attempt to pass the budget. On paper, Labour should be able to get it through, but with the numbers on as much of a knife edge as they are, it’s going to be an interesting night.
Vince: “A more challenging set of circumstances than we’ve been in before.” “I’m determined to get this budget through.”
Vince on Sat/Steven: “I am frustrated at how long it’s taken for me and the two individuals. I don’t think that’s been acceptable. I’ve made that clear within the party.”
No elected mayor anytime soon
Over the past few months, politics in Medway and across wider Kent has been dominated by talk of devolution. Both Kent County Council and Medway Council made a mammoth effort to bid for devolved powers, money, and the elected mayor that would come with that.
Both councils were shocked last week when the government announced which areas would receive the powers next year, which didn’t include Kent and Medway.
It was initially unclear exactly why Kent and Medway’s bid was deemed unsuitable. Still, in the days since, it has become apparent that the government's position was that it couldn’t figure out a way to make the governance of the new strategic authority work, given the size difference between Kent and Medway Councils.
Medway Council Leader Vince Maple described the decision as “frustrating as it means we are missing out on opportunities to improve things like skills and public transport.”
It is baffling how the government came to this view. If a strategic authority of Medway (population ~280,000) and Kent (~1.6m) isn’t feasible, one has to wonder how Thurrock (~180,000) and Essex (~1.5m) was deemed acceptable. Similar ratios can also be found within Sussex’s accepted bid.
As a result, it seems unlikely that Kent and Medway will be able to form a strategic authority before 2028 once local government reorganisation has been completed. In the meantime, other areas on all sides will be able to proceed with the new powers and finances while Kent and Medway are left behind.
Local government reorganisation presents a more profound challenge for the county. While almost everyone was on board with the devolution bid, clear fault lines exist regarding how to divide Kent into unitary councils. Labour believes four councils are the way to go, while the Conservatives are adamant about three. No one is particularly willing to discuss precisely what either plan would look like in reality.
Further complicating matters is that with devolution off the table, Kent County Council will now have to hold local elections in Medway. While the county has long been Conservative, it is hard to predict the outcome of a county-wide election in the current political environment. It could be that the consensus that exists on devolution may not even survive the next few months.
Medway MP shares Reform style ads
With Reform on the rise in the polls, Labour seems increasingly desperate to see them off. The party has adopted several positions to try to win back voters who might be leaning towards Farage’s group, with some baffling results.
One of the more questionable decisions has been to release a series of adverts in the style of Reform’s messaging, touting their hard line on issues like immigration, even if it perhaps undermines why people voted for them in the first place.
Never one to turn down a controversial talking point, Chatham and Aylesford MP Tris Osborne took to X (and only X) to share that Labour was removing more migrants than anyone in years in Reform colours and styling.
Unsurprisingly, this hasn’t gone over hugely well with those on the left. Medway Stand Up To Racism responded with a simple ‘Wtf’, while another user asked why it looked like an ad for Reform. Osborne’s patronising response was that he ‘hadn’t noticed’ because playing dumb to your constituents is an excellent way to win people over.
Sources within Medway Labour itself expressed frustration with Osborne’s tweets. One source said it was ‘a classic example of someone who thinks they’re being really clever at comms being really terrible at comms and who should really learn where their talents lie and where they don’t.’
Labour finds itself in a difficult position, with its fragile coalition of voters ebbing away in different directions. Keeping everyone together is going to be challenging, and we’re likely to see more messaging like this that risks alienating one group to try and keep another. It’s unclear how effective this strategy can be over the long term.
In brief
🍲 Neil Charlick, Chief Executive of the Gillingham Street Angels, has resigned from the position after seven years in charge. He told the KM he intends to return to doing more day-to-day outreach work for the organisation instead.
🛒 Aldi has launched a consultation for their proposed new Chatham store. The plans are on the former St John Fisher site on Maidstone Road, with the design looking like a standard Aldi, 104 parking spaces, and the promise of 50 new jobs.
🗣️ Medway Council has launched a consultation on the future of Rainham town centre. The survey asks residents what they like about the centre and what they want to see improved.
👮 A shop in Hoo has had its licence suspended after Kent Police raised concerns over ‘serious crime and disorder.’ Quicky Mart (not that one) will now face a full review on 4 March.
More Authority
Gillian Fargher is the High Sheriff of Kent, a voluntary ceremonial role with a legacy dating back a thousand years. We sat down with the former GP to learn more about the role and how one ends up doing it, her return to the NHS during covid, her trip to Antarctica, her multiple volunteering roles, and lots more.
Coming up this week:
Thursday: Our new columnist,
Friday: Our usual arts and culture briefing featuring Luton Lights, Bill Lewis, some special Royal Engineers football matches, and lots more.
Sunday: Our weekend interview is with Cllr Chris Spalding, the independent councillor for All Saints on the Hoo Peninsula who joined Reform last week (paid supporters only).
Footnotes
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Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: All Hell by Los Campesinos!, The Cool Greenhouse by The Cool Greenhouse, and Giant Elk by Me Rex.
I heard at the weekend that Essex had already been merging districts/boroughs, so maybe this got them ahead of the pack for the alleged devolution.