News | Local elections
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Tories elect new leader aer post-election resignation
THE new leader of Maidstone Council isAnnabelle Blackmore, from Marden. Cllr Blackmore (48) was elected
Cllr Marion Ring remains in
leader at the annual meeting of the council, prior to the mayor-making ceremony. The Conservative member for Marden andYalding takes over from fellow Tory Chris Garland, who stood down as leader immediately after May’s elections to concentrate on his professional career. Mr Garland remains a councillor, serving Shepway North. Cllr Fran Wilson (Liberal Democrat) is leader of the opposition. After the May election, the Con-
servatives hold 24 seats, the Liberal Democrats 19, Independents 5,UKIP four and Labour two. Conservative Cllr Richard Lusty resigned after the election, leaving one vacancy. This has also had an impact on the make-up of several important committees, including planning, where the Conservatives no longer have a majority. Cllr Lusty had served on the coun-
cil for 16 years and chaired the plan- ning committee for nine of them.He said: “I believe I did not fit in with what Annabelle Blackmore wanted to do.”
Cllr Annabelle Blackmore
Cllr Blackmore’s cabinet includes newly-elected Cllr John Perry, from Staplehurst, who becomes cabinet member for community and leisure services. Two other councillors also join the cabinet for the first time: Cllr Steve McLoughlin, another of the members for Marden andYalding, is responsible for corporate services while the third member for the ward, Cllr David Burton, takes over planning, transport and develop- ment.
charge of environment and Cllr Mal- colm Greer continues as deputy leader and cabinet member for eco- nomic and commercial develop- ment. Cllr Blackmore’s administration
does not have an overall majority and she acknowledges she will have to appeal to like-minded councillors in other groups whenit comes to the important issues in the year ahead. She said: “Last month’s elections
were dominated by the local plan. We will be taking a close look at the results of the consultation to see wherewe can make changes to meet the wishes of our residents, the councillors from all groupswhorep- resent them, parish councils and statutory partners. “We will also be consulting resi-
dents on the council’s strategic plan to make sure it continues to meet the needs of the borough.” Cllr Blackmore was elected to the borough council in 2003 and imme- diately courted controversy by mov- ing to Bermuda with her husband. She hit the national headlines whenshe maintained itwas possible
to represent the people of her ward from a distance, returning to theUK to fulfil theminimumattendance re- quirements. Since returning to live in the UK,
Cllr Blackmore has been a member of a number of committees, includ- ing the joint transportation board, and has served as chairman of the community, leisure services and en- vironment overview and scrutiny committee. She is a former insur- ance broker and has two children. The leaders of the other groups on Maidstone Council are Cllr Fay Gooch, Independent; Cllr Eddie Powell, UKIP; and Cllr Malcolm McKay, Labour. Cllr Powell (55), who was elected
in Harrietsham and Lenham, said: “We may join forces on individual projects, butwe have no intention of going into a coalition.” Two weeks before the elections
Cllr Garland (40) accepted a job in fi- nancial services. He wrote in a letter to his group: “Iamproud and privi- leged to have led the council for six years. I believe Maidstone is a better place sincewe took over and is now thriving, buzzing and vibrant.”
James Willis (Lib Dem); Janetta Sams (Ind); John Perry (Con); Paul Harper (Lab); and Christine Edwards-Daem, Eddie Powell, Dave Sargeant and Simon Ells, allUKIP New faces spark an uncertain future
A BLOW at the polls forced the Conservatives to set up a minority administration. The Tories, who lost their con- trolling majority after UKIP took four of their 20 seats, while the Lib Dems took a further seat from the Conservatives in HeathWard. Of the 55 council seats, the Tories
were left with 25, Lib Dems 19, In- dependents five, UKIP four and Labour two. Cllr Richard Lusty’s resignation after the election fur- ther reduced the Tories to 24 seats. Labour gained its second seat on
the council – at the expense of the LibDems – in a fiercely fought con- test in Fant ward, where only 144 votes separated the top and bot- tom-scoring candidates. The Independents still hold five seats on the council after Janetta
32 Maidstone Town July 2014
Sams won the Harrietsham and Lenham seat, which had been pre- viously held by her husband, Tom Sams. In other parts of the borough, Lib
Dem support soared and the party came a close second in the Tory stronghold of Marden and Yalding where, following a recount, they were just 43 votes behind Conser- vative candidate David Burton. In Staplehurst, likewise, they
were only 109 votes behind the winning candidate, Conservative and parish council chairman John Perry. The first seat to be declared – at 2.55am – was Shepway South, where UKIP’s Dave Sargeant set the trend for the hours that fol- lowed. Cllr Sargeant (75) has lived in
Shepway for almost 30 years and has supported UKIP since 2001. He said: “I believe the party is
right on the issue of Europe and felt we needed some representation in myward.” Later UKIP gains came for Chris-
tine Edwards-Daem (Park Wood), Eddie Powell (Harrietsham and Lenham), and Simon Ells (Shepway North). James Willis, an active cam- paigner for the Lib Dems on issues such as Bluebell Wood and the Freshlands Play Area, reaped the support of his constituents, top- pling Conservative Brian Moss by more than double the number of votes. CllrWillis pledged to get the pro-
posed housing numbers down to a “sensible level that the roads can
cope with,” while a resigned Mr Moss said: “I have served on the council for 10 years and knew it would be difficult this time because of the Hermitage Lane housing issue. Still, I have things to do. This is the first day of a new life!” In other parts of the borough, serving mayor Cllr Clive English narrowly hung on to his seat for the Lib Dems – just 33 votes ahead of UKIP – while in Bridge, Lib Dem Cllr David Pickett scraped in just 70 votes ahead of his Tory rival. Peter Edwards-Daem, UKIP chairman for Faversham and Mid- Kent, said the party’s success was down to local policies – such as not building on greenfield sites and seeking 20mph speed limits through rural villages.
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