The 23 people who want to represent Medway
Plus a dragon in Rochester, review of Chuck and Blade, our weekly events guide, news in brief, and more
Barely two weeks after Rishi Sunak decided to call a snap General Election, the deadline for nominations has passed. As a result, we already have the full list of everyone standing in Medway this time around. So, who have we got, and are there any surprises? Further down, we have some lovely photos of the new Draco Roffensis at Rochester Cathedral, a review of Chuck and Blade Burgers, our weekly events guide, and the news in brief section, which has a wonderful story of a councillor falling asleep and missing a vote.
Editor’s note: Usually, we try and keep the big serious news (the politics mostly) to Tuesdays and attempt to make the Friday edition a little more relaxed, with an arts feature, culture writing, sport, or something not as heavy. Alas, the General Election is intruding into that, so today is still fairly politics-heavy. If that’s your thing, you’re welcome. If not, sorry about that. It’ll all be over soon…
The 23 people who want to represent Medway
Yesterday marked four weeks until the General Election, and today, the deadline for being nominated as a candidate passed, so we now have a full view of the candidates standing in this election.
Inevitably, there were a couple of last-minute surprise candidates, one who didn’t even make it onto the ballot paper, and some fascinating data about exactly where the candidates standing live.
Candidates for Chatham and Aylesford:
Nicholas Chan (Liberal Democrat)
Nathan Gamester (Conservative)
Thomas Mallon (Reform)
Adedotun Ogundemuren (Christian People’s Alliance)
Tristan Osborne (Labour)
Steve Tanner (Social Democratic Party)
Matt Valentine (Workers Party)
Kim Winterbottom (Green)
This list was largely as expected, with only the late additions of Adedotun Ogundemuren for the Christian People’s Alliance and Matt Valentine for the Workers Party. The Christian People’s Alliance perennially pop up in this constituency, but Ogundemurem is a new candidate. The Workers Party, the party recently formed by George Galloway, and while they did pledge to stand in all three Medway constituencies, they only managed to stand in two.
Intriguingly, in a world where having a local connection is seen as increasingly important in elections, only two of the eight candidates live within the constituency. While most are in surrounding areas, like Nicholas Chan in Gillingham and Rainham, Thomas Mallon in Gravesham or Tristan Osborne in Rochester and Strood, one has to wonder how well Nathan Gamester’s ‘address in Lewisham West and East Dulwich Constituency’ will play on the ballot paper.
Candidates for Gillingham and Rainham:
Kate Belmonte (Green)
Stuart Bourne (Liberal Democrat)
Rehman Chishti (Conservative)
Peter Cook (Independent)
Naushabah Khan (Labour)
Roger Peacock (Christian People’s Alliance)
Rizvi Rawoof (Reform)
Peter Wheeler (Social Democratic Party)
We knew of six of these candidates a week ago, although at the time, it was seven, as the Workers Party claimed to have a candidate here, too. The first new addition is Roger Peacock for the Christian People’s Alliance, though maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising given that he’s stood in every election here since 2015. Our other new candidate is Peter Cook, a staunch anti-Brexit campaigner who is apparently fighting this election as a cat. Sure.
Seven of the eight candidates in Gillingham and Rainham live in the constituency, with only Reform candidate Rizvi Rawoof migrating across the border from Rochester and Strood.
Candidates for Rochester and Strood:
Peter Burch (Heritage Party)
Graham Colley (Liberal Democrat)
Daniel Dabin (Reform)
Lauren Edwards (Labour)
John Innes (Workers Party)
Cat Jamieson (Green)
Kelly Tolhurst (Conservative)
Most of these names were familiar before the formal candidate list, with only Peter Burch being added for the Heritage Party, a party split off from UKIP for those who wanted something a little more right-wing. Burch stood for the party in Medway’s local elections last year, and it’s fair to say he didn’t trouble the electorate.
Happily, though, all eight candidates in Rochester and Strood live in the constituency. Hurrah!
Hustings tickets going fast
We’ve been taken aback at the response to our General Election hustings since we announced them earlier in the week. Nearly 350 of you have booked a place over the three events, meaning some of them are at legitimate risk of running out of space.
The three hustings we are holding are:
Thursday 13 June: Gillingham and Rainham hustings at St. Margaret’s Church, Rainham
Tuesday 18 June: Rochester and Strood hustings at Rochester Baptist Church
Wednesday 19 June: Chatham and Aylesford hustings at Lordswood Leisure Centre, Chatham
At this point, Rochester and Strood is down to the last handful of tickets, but all of them are being booked at a brisk pace. Please book a spot if you’d like to come and hear from the candidates wanting to be your next MP.
You can find full details on all three events, book tickets and submit your questions via our page on Eventbrite.
In brief
♻️ Medway Council is paying over £5,000 per month to dispose of incorrectly sorted recycling. Over 200 tonnes of waste each month is rejected, representing 17% of the total collected. This figure is down from 20% last year, but still, a lot of supposed recycling ends up in landfills.
🏨 A site on Corporation Street in Rochester that previously received planning permission for a hotel is up for sale for £2m. The site is being marketed as suitable for hospitality, residential, mixed use, or healthcare. Previous hotel plans were controversial and received objections from residents who seemingly preferred the apocalyptic car wash currently on the site.
🏪 The former Wilko in the Pentagon in Chatham is now up for rent if anyone is interested in taking on a large retail unit in 2024. The shop has been divided to remove the upstairs, which is set to become part of the new healthy living centre that is currently being developed.
👚 The Gillingham Street Angels have opened their new clothing shop, which they claim is the largest secondhand clothes outlet in Kent. The site is located within the former Gray’s car showroom in the Intra area.
😴 Cllr Roger Barrett (Con) abstained on a planning vote on Wednesday as he appeared to be asleep. While his 14 colleagues on the planning committee voted unanimously in favour of a Costa drive-thru on Medway City Estate, Cllr Barrett remained motionless in his seat, only stirring shortly after the vote.
House of the Dragon
Rochester Cathedral has quite a reputation at this point for impressive art installations. In the last few years, it has seen giant Earth and Moon installations, covid memorial leaves, a giant knife angel, various light shows, and lots more.
The latest installation is Draco Roffensis, a huge piece by local artist Wendy Daws. It is made from 12,500 gold, silver, and copper foil pieces sewn onto wire and suspended in the nave.
It looks pretty cool.
The dragon is inspired by artwork found in the Textus Roffensis, a 900-year-old text written in Rochester during the 1120s that records some of England's earliest laws.
Quotes from the book are written on the dragon, which has also had scales decorated by members of the public.
Draco Roffensis will be on display inside Rochester Cathedral until 21 September. If you’re in Rochester, it’s definitely worth popping in to see it.
Out to Lunch: Chuck and Blade Burgers in Rochester
In which Steven Keevil assesses the lunch options available in our towns. This week, he’s been ordering from Chuck and Blade Burgers in Rochester…
Chuck and Blade in Rochester is one of a small chain of burger restaurants in the southeast. They offer, in their own words, ‘dirty burgers and filthy fries.’ We ordered a cheeseburger with candy bacon and sweet bacon jam, along with some loaded tots (grated potato, formed into balls and fried), poutine (French fries with gravy and cheese curd), and a strawberry cheesecake milkshake via Deliveroo.
The tots were crispy, and the sauce was delicious. If anything, there were just too many of them. The burger came with crispy skin on fries, which were also tasty. The burger is as dirty as they say, in a good way, from an establishment that prides itself on how unkempt your burger looks upon delivery. The patties were well-cooked, and the burger was delicious. The milkshake was a good size and flavoursome, with good chunks on a biscuit, which ensures you have an accompanying drink and a dessert simultaneously.
If you haven’t yet eaten at or from Chuck and Blade Burgers, then you really should. A true highlight of Rochester High Street for lunch or dinner.
Events this week
🖼️ The Medway Print Festival is fully underway, running until 16 June at locations across Medway. The festival has six free exhibitions and a range of activities across Medway. Our highlight is the screenprinting workshops by our friends from The Hazelnut Press at Chatham Dockyard, but there’s lots going on over the next nine days. Free, some events have fees.
🍲 The Medway Food and Drink Festival is back at Rochester Castle this weekend. It’s a slightly odd one as you have to pay to enter, and they don’t tell you what food and drink is inside, but if you want to play some kind of culinary roulette, it’s on until Sunday. £11 per day.
⚔️ The biggest (only?) wargaming event on the Medway calendar is tomorrow (Sat 8 Jun) with the Broadside Games Show at Medway Park. Featuring traders, demonstrations, and participation games in a variety of types of wargaming. Tickets £4.
🌺 Rochester Cathedral is holding a rare open day of its gardens tomorrow (Sat 8 Jun). The 3 acres of gardens used to be publicly accessible for free, but now they are open on very occasional days. Tickets £8.
🖤 The Broken Heart Bazaar is back at Sun Pier House tomorrow (Sat 8 Jun) with another of its alternative markets. Thirty traders will be selling unique items aimed at members of various subcultures. Free.
🎤 The Kent Poetry Championship Slam comes to Fort Amherst tomorrow with ten poets battling for a shot at the Kentish Poetry Championship Belt, which is apparently a thing. Duels between other poets are also on the card. Tickets £5.
More Authority
Yesterday, we published a look into the state of the River Medway. A number of sources are reporting significantly increased levels of sewage, as well as other unpleasant things, in the water. Why is so much of it happening now, and what risk does it actually pose?
Coming up this weekend, our interview is with all three Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidates standing in the General Election: Stuart Bourne in Gillingham and Rainham, Nicholas Chan in Chatham and Aylesford, and Graham Colley in Rochester and Strood.
Footnotes
Music that soundtracked the creation of this edition: All Songs Written By by Human Television, Tourist In This Town by Allison Crutchfield, and New Gods by Withered Hand.
I was interested in your review of Chuck and Blades as l was in there recently and tried to order a hot drink. The staff were pretty dismissive/uninterested in my request including the manager and one of them told me that I wasnt "their target customer " So being obviously too old and decrepit to eat one of their delicious burgers and wash it down with a black coffee I have not returned .