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Tories get the blues at polls


THE Tories took a battering in Maidstone as voters went to the polls in a third of the council’s 55 wards, butmanaged to retain a majority hold, with their 30 seats on the council. Theturnout waslow–just


30% across the borough – and the Conservative councillors’ majorities fell almost without exception, but they clung on to key seats, including Bridge, Coxheath & Hunton and Fant. There was one independent


gain – in Park Wood





where former Labour coun- cillor Daniel Moriarty , who switched to the Lib- Dems four years ago, took the seat standing as an In- dependent and gained 319 votes – 43more than his nearest rival, Labour candidate Debbie Fer- nandez. Tory county councillor Gary Cooke came thirdwith 214 votes.


Labour re-gained a toe-hold in


the chamber as well, winning its first seat in four years – in Shepway South, where former Tory Cllr Bob Hinder saw his seat pass to Labour’s Malcolm McKay. Cllr McKay,


who is mar- ried and has two grown-up sons, lives in Cheviot Gar- dens


in


Downswood. For 24 years he was a business manager for an electrical distribution com- pany.


Conservatives gained 41% of


the total vote, however, to take 10 of the 20 seats up for grabs in this month’s election. In Yalding, new contender


Conservative LibDem


Independent Labour


* denotes sitting councillor ALLINGTON


Malcolm Robertson* (LibDem) 1,146 613


Barry Ginley (Con)


Wendy Hollands (Lab) 266 BARMING & TESTON


Fay Gooch* (Ind) Susan Black (Con)


BEARSTED


Richard Ash* (Con) 1,340 Steve Gibson (Lab)


396


Ciaran Oliver (Green) 204 Geoff Samme (LibDem) 154


BOUGHTON MONCHELSEA & CHART SUTTON


Stephen Munford (Ind) 707 30 Town


722 182


Strength of parties


Thirty years and counting for election couple THE annual election count is a firm diary date foroneMaidstone couple. Mark and Connie Bonner are old


hands when it comes to checking the ballot papers – and not merely because they are both now of pen- sion age! The couple, who live in Ashford


Road, Bearsted, have been at every election count for thepast30years, and don’t have any plans to quit. They have counted councils of all


colours in and out – and have also been there for the memorable counts during the lengthy “reign” of former Maidstone and Weald MP Ann Widdecombe. They like to see the familiar faces,


as well as the newcomers on the block. Connie said: “It’salate night, but it only comes once a year – and nowadays, at leastwe don’t have to get up forwork in themorning!”


Steve McLoughlin, from Vic- arage Road, held Marden and Yalding for the Con- servatives. Married


with two grown-up children, he is a retired in- ternational business developer for The Computer Business. Council leader Chris Garland,


faced with opposition from Labour, Green and National Front in his Shepway North ward, retained his seat, but with a majority re- duced from 716 to just 151. In Coxheath and Hunton, too,


Andrew Le Hegarat (Con) 192 Gill Annan (Lab)


39 BOXLEY


30 19 5 1


Wendy Hinder* (Con) 1,167 Michael Beckwith (Lab) 357 AndrewWaldie (Green) 186


BRIDGE James Ross* (Con)


Robert Field (LibDem) 407 Bruce Heald (Lab)


JohnWilson* (Con)


Martin Rabicano (LibDem)638 Denise Hay (Green) Stella Randall (Lab)


794 222


221


KeithWoollven (UKIP) 114 EAST


Martin Cox (LibDem) 1,060 Tony Dennison (Con) 623 Hannah Patton (Green) 312


FANT


Stephen Paine* (Con) 610 Paul Harper (Lab & Co-op)548 Stuart Jeffery (Green) 442


443 200


Robin Kinrade (Green) 141 COXHEATH & HUNTON


cabinet mem- ber John Wil- son faced a nail-biting count, up against the LibDems, Labour, Green Party and UKIP. He re- tained his seat with a 156-vote majority over his nearest rival, LibDemMartin Rabicano. Stephen Munford held Boughton Monchelsea for the Inde- pendents, tak- ing over from Mike FitzGer- ald.


Married


with a married daughter, he lives at Bottlescrew Hill, Boughton Monchelsea. He has been a member of Boughton Monchelsea Parish


Irene Shepherd (LibDem) 311 HEADCORN


Richard Thick* (Con) 1,001 Penny Kemp (Green) 417


HEATH (two seats)


Bryan Vizzard* (LibDem) 499 Brian Moss (Con)


428


Mark Naghi (LibDem) 369 Scott Hahnefeld (Con) 349 Patrick Coates (Lab)


HIGH STREET


Denise Joy* (LibDem) 649 Paul Butcher (Con)


MARDEN & YALDING


Steve McLoughlin (Con) 1,106 Edith Davis (Lab)


NORTH Jenni Paterson* (LibDem) 907 288


Ian McDonald (Green) 199 Ralph Austin (LibDem) 179


374


Marianna Poliszczuk (Lab)233 John Stanford (UKIP) 176 Wendy Lewis (Green) 113


217


Richard Coates (Lab) 217 James Shalice (Green) 120


Council for 16 years and is cur- rently the chairman. He served in the Army for 25


years and later retired as train- ing manager for Travis Perkins. In Allington, fellow cabinet member Malcolm Robertson romped home for the Liberal Democrats, with a 533 ma- jority. The Liberal Democrats managed to hold on to six seats in the council cham- ber, with 26% of the total vote, the Independents three,with just 7% of the vote and Labour’s first seat in four years was obtained with 14% of the total vote. The Green Party polled 8% of


thevote, butfailedtowin any seats, as did UKIP (2%), the Labour & Co-operative (2%) and National Front (1%).


Jeff Tree (Con) NORTH DOWNS


Daphne Parvin* (Con) 442 Carol Vizzard (Ind)


115


Audrey Gardner (Lab) 84 Sarah Goodwin (Green) 66


PARK WOOD


Daniel Moriarty (Ind) 319 Debbie Fernandez (Lab) 276 Gary Cooke (Con)


214 SHEPWAY NORTH


Chris Garland* (Con) 742 Jim Grogan (Lab)


Stephen Muggeridge (Green)167 Gary Butler (NF)


SHEPWAY SOUTH


Malcolm McKay (Lab) 418 BobHinder* (Con) Geoff Licence (Ind)


265 260


SOUTH


Ian Chittenden* (LibDem) 306 Vianne Gibbons (Con) 757


Have you got news for us? Phone our News Desk on 01622 734735


591 97


381


Keith Adkinson (Lab) 206 Charles Elliott (UKIP) 167


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