Personal statement coming shortly
Plus Chatham Docks decision deferred, Cllr Turpin joins Independent Group, Not quite Up The Chats, and more
Following a busy few days of election results across the country, Gillingham and Rainham MP Rehman Chishti sent social media into a frenzy over a ‘personal announcement’, which turned out to be not what anyone expected. We have all the details below, as well as a dramatic last minute twist in the saga of Chatham Docks, Cllr Turpin joining a new political group, a reflection on Chatham FC’s play-off final, and more.
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Personal statement coming shortly
Following the devastating results for the Conservatives in the local and mayoral elections around the country last week, Gillingham and Rainham MP Rehman Chishti decided it would be a great time to prank everyone on social media.
With Conservative MPs publicly criticising their own party, several standing down rather than face an electoral thumping, and one even defecting to the Labour opposition, Chishti took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon to post the following cryptic message:
A personal statement coming shortly.
Inevitably, it took around five minutes for political Twitter to lose its mind, with the tweet gaining over one million views and leading to a run of wild speculation about exactly what was about to happen. Of course, the inevitable questions about whether he was standing down or defecting came up, but he was also rinsed with a series of ever more ridiculous suggestions. Ladbrokes asked if they needed to “unsuspend (their) next Tory leader market”, another asked if he was announcing a late entry for Eurovision, while another wryly wondered if Chishti had sacked his photographer.
Three hours later, which is hardly the promised short period of time, the answer came, and it turned out that Chishti had tricked everyone into thinking something exciting was happening with what was quite literally a personal statement.
I am pleased to say the answer was YES.
We thank our family & friends for their prayers that we met & for the future.
شـكـراً يـا الله
P.S We are pleased to be further enhancing the special relationship between 🇬🇧 & 🇮🇹.
Thank you Italy for a wonderful short visit. A & R.
Now, it’s not entirely clear whether he was announcing his engagement or a new trade deal, particularly as it wasn’t posted without a customary photograph. But it does appear that Chishti used a moment of high political tension to have a bit of fun with everyone on social media. To be quite frank, it’s hard not to respect that level of trolling.
Back in the House of Commons today, even Speaker Lindsay Hoyle had a bit of fun over the matter, congratulating him on his engagement while also making sure that he wasn’t defecting to another party.
All of this comes at a time of an increasingly difficult re-election campaign for Chishti, who, according to Electoral Calculus, now only has a 23% chance of holding his seat in the coming General Election.
With that in mind, it perhaps isn’t surprising that Chishti is in full fundraising mode. In the most recent update to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, he has declared £15,000 in new donations through the Gillingham & Rainham Conservative Association.
Wholesaler Bestway and the slightly intriguing Kent Knee Unit have donated £5,000 each, old favourite MEMS stumped up £3,000, while Beams International added a fairly meagre £2,000 to the pot.
Still, every little helps, as all of those leaflets aren’t going to post themselves.
Chatham Docks decision deferred
As we covered fairly extensively last week, Medway Council's planning committee was set to decide on plans for the redevelopment of part of Chatham Docks tomorrow (7 May). Officers at the council proposed to approve Peel Ports’ redevelopment of the south of the site into a new business complex called Basin3, while the campaign to save and redevelop the site as working docks fought against the plans.
Since then, Rochester and Strood MP Kelly Tolhurst held a debate in parliament on the issue, while ArcelorMittal, the steel firm on the site, has written to local government secretary Michael Gove asking him to step in, saying they will have to “cease operations in Britain” if the plans are approved.
All of this came to a fairly dramatic head tonight, with the item being deferred at the last minute due to a ‘legal challenge’ to the plans being submitted to Medway Council. At this point, it is unclear who is behind the challenge or what form it takes, but it is significant enough for the authority to pause the planning process so they can seek legal advice on the way forward.
So, the plans are on hold for now, but this very likely isn’t the final chapter in the ongoing battle over the docks' future.
Cllr Turpin joins Independent Group
After suddenly quitting the Conservative Group she was Deputy Leader of back in February, she has now found a new home after joining the Independent Group on Medway Council.
The Independent Group previously consisted of all three councillors from Hoo and High Halstow, who won a resounding victory in that ward in 2023 local elections. Cllr Turpin was elected as a Conservative councillor for the adjoining Strood Rural ward.
The councillors have seemed aligned on several issues, particularly the development of the Hoo Peninsula, which impacts the villages in Cllr Turpin’s patch.
In a statement, Independent Group leader Cllr George Crozer said:
“Elizabeth will be a fantastic addition to The Independent Group and we will continue working together, now formally as a group on the Council, for the benefit of Hoo Peninsula residents.”
An increased group size increases the entitlement of the Independent Group to more committee places on Medway Council, though it is unclear when they will be able to take advantage of that, given the numbers for the current municipal year were set at last month’s full council meeting.
In our interview with Cllr Crozer last year, he noted that he “would like to see the group expand before future elections”. It turns out that he might have been on to something.
Not quite Up The Chats
Steven Keevil reflects on Chatham Town FC after they lost their play-off final on Monday…
It was a game that encapsulated the season. A well-drilled local team played good football and dominated, except for two tasks: scoring goals and not conceding. Chatham Town FC ended the season in 2nd place, an impressive achievement after back-to-back promotions. A glance at the league will show that they won a lot of games, but they also lost double digits, with not much in the way of drawing.
Kevin Hake and his team have done an impressive job in a short period of time, both on and off the field, to ensure that Chatham Town FC is an important part of the community while also investing in the stadium. If anything, staying in their current league could be a benefit. It would give them time to consolidate what they do well, move forward with plans for the stadium, and then ‘go again,’ as the saying goes.
They won their first men’s cup in the Velocity Cup final only a few weeks ago. The Chats have also invested in the women’s and youth teams, recently winning the NFYL Trophy. Despite the poor weather and result on Monday, the future still looks bright at Chatham Town FC.
In brief
🌹 Former councillor Paul Harriott has passed away. Harriott represented Twydall for 52 years across Gillingham Borough Council (where he was also leader and mayor) and Medway Council.
⚽ Gillingham Football Club have appointed Mark Bonner as their new manager following the sacking of Stephen Clemence. Bonner previously managed Cambridge United, leading them to promotion from League 2, something Gillingham will be aiming for next season.
🏘️ Medway Council planning committee is this Wednesday (8 May). With Chatham Docks removed from the agenda, the biggest item is details of the first phase of development at East Hill in Chatham, which will see 800 homes built over the coming years.
More Authority
It’s been a busy week here at Local Authority, with a three-edition bonanza since our last main briefing on Friday. Yesterday, we published an interview with Neil Charlick, Chief Executive of the Gillingham Street Angels charity. They’ve become a substantial force in Medway over the past few years and have attracted a fair amount of criticism along the way. As such, we talked with Neil to discuss his own experience of homelessness, why a charity needs to be run as a business, if they are really feeding 25,000 people a month, and why he went on Nigel Farage’s show.
On Saturday, we released our latest monthly creative edition, highlighting the work of five unique Medway creative voices across a range of disciplines.
Later this week, our paid supporters will receive a deep dive into the state of the water in the River Medway. Spoiler alert: The state of things isn’t great. To get access to that and all of our work, press the button below.
Footnotes
Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: Privilege by Parenthetical Girls, Your Friend, The Atom by We Are The Physics, and Probably Nothing, Possibly Everything by Pat the Bunny.
Definitely stealing this tweet idea for later in life at the most inappropriate moment 😅