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downsmail.co.uk ‘Apathy’ is


under fire ONE of Maidstone’s newly- elected councillors criticised his peers after the council’s first meeting and election of cabinet. Five members of the council


were absent from the annual meeting to decide who would lead the council.As no party has a majority in the council cham- ber, the votes of the Independ- ent and UKIP members could have been critical. In the event, with five members missing and three UKIPmembers abstaining, the Conservatives retained the leadership, electing Cllr Annabelle Blackmore to the role. Cllr Paul Harper (Labour),


who was elected in last month’s elections, said afterwards: “Is it anywonder there is apathy with local government when five councillors can’t even make it to the first council meeting?” The missing councillors were Janetta Sams (Independent) whowas attending a fete, Chris- tine Edwards-Daem (UKIP), who was ill, Thomas Long (Lib Dem) and Richard Ash (Con- servative), who were both on holiday. The fifth absentee was Richard Lusty (Conservative, Staplehurst), who resigned im- mediately after his group voted to put Cllr Blackmore forward as leader, forcing the residents of Staplehurst to go back to the polls later in the summer. Cllr Blackmore received 25


votes, against Cllr FranWilson, leader of the Lib Dems’22 votes.


Local elections | News


Aer 37,500 votes it ends in an anticlimax


STAYING up till the early hours for local elections results is an attractive idea only for the limited few, says Downs Mail editor Stephen Eighteen.


Quite often, late night enthusiasm


and excitement dissolve into a test of early morning staying power as thewait for the first declaration con- tinues, seemingly without end. This year’s countwas particularly testing, with the verification of the European votes pushing the first an- nouncement back to 2.55am, but when it came it showed one of the reasons why this borough is easily worth feeling sleep-deprived for. At Maidstone Council, power is


not retained easily. The Conserva- tives have been in charge since 2008, finally dislodging the Lib Dems, who have remained on their tail ever since. Every election is unpre- dictable, with both parties knowing they can’t take anything for granted, which is exactly how it should be. It was fitting, therefore, that the


first of 20 seats declared, in vacant Shepway South,would upset the al- ready fragile apple cart. UKIP had arrived, taking its first seat in Maid- stone courtesy of 542 votes for Dave Sargeant, who beat Labour candi- date Theresa Lyons with 339. In truth, this was no political earthquake for those of us in Maid- stone Leisure Centre, where it was quite clear long before the an-


nouncement that the counted pile of papers in this ward with a UKIP crossdwarfed those of other parties. At election counts the layout is


open plan, which enables candi- dates, agents, visitors and the media to see at close quarters which candi- dates have more 100-vote bundles than the others. This led to many concerned Conservative faces dur- ing the evening. Many of these turned out to be


false alarms. A 110-strong majority over Lib Dem Paulina Watson al- layed the fears of John Perry, the chairman of Staplehurst Parish Council, who won the village’s seat for the Conservatives. David Burton,whodecided not to


carry on standing in Park Wood, squeezed past Lib Dem Sir Nick Fenn, a former diplomat, by 43 votes to hold Marden and Yalding for the Conservatives. The biggest shock-that-never-was,


however, was reserved for a Lib Dem. For much of the night Clive English feared hewould become the first serving mayor for more than 30 years to be voted out, but he edged past UKIP’s Jackie Hemsted by 33 votes to ensure there were no tremors in High Street.


In recent years, Fant has become


the borough’s closest-fought ward and this year was no different: just 115 votes separated fifth-placedSam Roach from winner Paul Harper, who doubled Labour’s presence on the council after a recount. While the Lib Dems were justifi-


ably delighted to retain the same number of seats when nationally many of their legs had been falling off, the night, or actually the morn- ing, belonged to UKIP. Each of their four seats – the oth-


ers were in Park Wood, Shepway North and, finally at 4.30am, in Har- rietsham and Lenham – were won from the Conservatives, meaning the 37,500 votes cast had succeeded in leaving the council in limbo. As the day broke, the realisation dawned that the future of the bor- ough at a critical time is likely to be heavily influenced by the stance taken and tactics adopted by the new UKIP councillors. The party’s credentials in Kent


will be examined first in Maidstone, andwe must all hope that the mem- bers understand the demands and responsibilities involved in repre- senting a council and do not treat our borough as a guinea pig.


ALL THE RESULTS FROM AROUND THE BOROUGH


ALLINGTON Dan Daley (Lib Dem) 1,273;Andy Airey (UKIP) 543; Barry Ginley (Con) 483; Marianna Polizzczuk (Lab) 168; David Thompson (Green) 58. LIBDEMHOLD BEARSTED Mike Cuming (Con) 1,059; Geoff Licence (Ind) 654; Sarah Pettit (UKIP) 593; Jeanne Gibson (Lab) 258; Ciaran Oliver (Green) 112; Geoffrey Samme (Lib Dem) 97 CONHOLD BOXLEY Derek Butler (Con) 1,035; Mike Wardle (UKIP) 765; Steve Gibson (Lab) 249; DanielWright (Lib Dem) 131; Hannah Patton (Green) 108. CONHOLD BRIDGE David Pickett (Lib Dem) 491; Stuart Mallison (Con) 421; James Hill (UKIP) 370; SandraMcDowell (Lab) 164; Donna Greenan (Green) 133. LIBDEMHOLD COXHEATHANDHUNTON Brian Mortimer (Lib Dem) 966; Clive Parker (Con) 654; Keith Woollven (UKIP) 636; Stella Randall (Lab) 164. LIBDEMHOLD EAST Nicola Fissenden (Lib Dem) 895;


Gareth Kendall (UKIP) 643; Tony Dennison (Con) 599; Richard Coates (Lab) 200; James Shalice (Green) 140. LIBDEMHOLDWITHNEW COUNCILLOR FANT Paul Harper (Lab) 595; Roy Smith (UKIP) 542; Stuart Jeffery (Green) 513; Sam Roach (Lib Dem) 480; Roger Hogg (Con) 451. LAB GAIN FROMLIBDEM HARRIETSHAMANDLENHAM (two seats) Janetta Sams (Ind) 979; Eddie Powell (UKIP) 573; John Barned (Con) 527; Marino Michaelas (Con) 505; MikeWilliams (UKIP) 479; Jean Harvey (Lab) 129; Geoff Harvey (Lab) 101 INDHOLD WITHNEWCOUNCILLORAND UKIPGAINFROMCON HEADCORN Martin Round (Con) 868; Peter Edwards-Daem (UKIP) 580; Penelope Kemp (Green) 208; Jim Grogan (Lab and Co-op) 124.CON HOLD HEATH JamesWillis (Lib Dem) 650; Colin Taylor (UKIP) 322; Brian Moss (Con) 307; Richard Chapman (Lab) 162; Irene Shepherd (Green) 69. LIB


DEMGAINFROMCON HIGHSTREET Clive English (Lib Dem) 596; Jackie Hemsted (UKIP) 563; Sam Lain- Rose (Con) 336; Lawrence Miller (Lab) 249;Wendy Lewis (Green) 146; David Savory (Ind) 64. LIB DEMHOLD MARDENANDYALDING David Burton (Con) 825; Sir Nick Fenn (Lib Dem) 782; Erika Olivares-Penroz (UKIP) 576; Edith Davis (Lab) 158; Ian McDonald (Green) 99.CONHOLDWITH NEWCOUNCILLOR NORTH(two seats) Tony Harwood (Lib Dem) 949; Thomas Long (Lib Dem) 597; Charles Elliott (UKIP) 529; Adrian Tilley (UKIP) 479; Michael Hemsley (Con) 380; Jeff Tree (Con) 334; Keith Adkinson (Lab) 206; Derek Eagle (Green) 199. LIBDEMHOLD BOTHSEATSWITHONENEW COUNCILLOR PARKWOOD Christine Edwards-Daem (UKIP) 396; JadeWebster (Con) 268; Naomi Fearon (Lab) 209; CarolVizzard (Ind) 148; Milden Choongo (Lib Dem) 54; Joan Langrick (Green) 51. UKIPGAINFROMCON


SHEPWAYNORTH Simon Ells (UKIP) 677; Steve Sheppard (Con) 557; Stephen Taylor (Lab) 342; DavidWilliams (Lib Dem) 292; Stephen Muggeridge (Green) 119; Gary Butler (Eng Dem) 46. UKIPGAIN FROMCON SHEPWAYSOUTH Dave Sargeant (UKIP) 542; Theresa Lyons (Lab) 339; Patrik Garten (Con) 275; Douglas Perkins (Lib Dem) 77. UKIPGAINFROMCON SOUTH Derek Mortimer (Lib Dem) 1,090; Abigail Hogg (Con) 720; Paul Wooding (UKIP) 679; Patrick Coates (Lab) 166;Wendy Hedgecock (Green) 83. LIBDEMHOLD STAPLEHURST John Perry (Con) 619; Paulina Watson (Lib Dem) 510; Jamie Kalmar (UKIP) 441; John Randall (Lab) 147; Robin Kinrade (Green) 65. CONHOLDWITHNEW COUNCILLOR OVERALLCOUNCIL(number of seats before election in brackets) Conservative 25 (30); LibDem19 (19); Independent 5 (5); UKIP 4 (0) Labour 2 (1) Turnout: 39.2%


Maidstone Town July 2014 33


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