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News Six of the best in fight for Fant


A SIX-pronged fight will take place on September 10 when vot- ers in Fant go to the polls. Following the death of Conserva-


tive Cllr Alistair Black in July, everything is up for grabs, with at least three of the six contenders be- lieving their past track record could swing the seat. The Labour candidate for Fant is vice-chairman of the Maidstone andWeald Labour Party, KeithAd- kinson. Keith lives in Fant with his family and has lived and worked in Maidstone for more than 30 years. He is chairman of the Fant


Wildlife Group and an active cam- paigner for Save Fant Farm. He has been a Maidstone councillor in the past and has campaigned in Fant for more than 10 years.


Continued from page one


time I was a very different person, more interested in my friends.” Luke left St John’s Junior School in Grove Green for Cornwallis Academy. It was there, says the student – who has hopes of be- coming a univer- sity lecturer –


Hoping to hold on to the seat for


the Tories is Matt Boughton (22).A former pupil of Oakwood Park Grammar School, he read politics at the University of Sussex and now works for Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling. Mr Boughton joined the Conser-


vative Party as a 17-year-old. He said: “Fant has one of the youngest populations in Maidstone – includ- ing many private renters and those struggling to buy or rent their own home. As a young person I know and understand these issues and I would help make a difference.” Former Conservative Mike


Hogg, who lost his Southward seat in May, is standing as an Inde- pendent. Having helped flood vic- tims on both sides of the Medway


in the Christmas floods of 2013 and worked with residents in Clifford Way to draw up a flood emergency plan, Mr Hogg (48) believes Fant residents need a “pro-active coun- cillor who will get things done”. He is a prison officer at Maid-


stone and spent four years on the borough council. He was co-opted on to Tovil Parish Council in May. Rosaline Janko, runner-up for


the seat in May, is standing for the Lib Dems. The proprietor of The Walnut Tree pub in Tonbridge Road for the past three years iswell known in Fant. She said: “Fant has been sadly neglected in places. I hope that as borough councillor for Fant I can build on the Liberal De- mocrats’ strong record of fighting for people and communities in


Luke’s first-class reward


that things began to change. He said: “The teachers were ex- cellent. They got me interested in science and the different processes behind how things work.” Luke’s hard work secured him


eight GCSEs, many ofAgrade, and a Btec in business. He could have transferred to a grammar school at


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this stage, but decided to stay on at Cornwallis to sit his A-levels. He said: “When I began my A-


levels itwas awake up call and I re- alised I had to knuckle down.” Now home after three years at


the University of Essex, in Colch- ester, Luke’s degree in biomedical science takes pride of place.


Maidstone.” NHS manager Stuart Jeffery (43)


hopes he can become the first Green on Maidstone Council. The chairman of Kent Green


Party came close to winning the seat in 2014, missing out by 83 votes; this year he was the parlia- mentary candidate for Canterbury. Standing for Ukip is Colin Taylor


(46) from Glebe Lane, Barming. Mr Taylor, currently a night co- ordinator on a construction project in the town, has lived in Maidstone for 25 years, eight of them in Fant ward, where he lives with partner Deborah and their eight-year old son. He joined UKIP 10 years ago. Polling stations: Grange Moor Hotel in St Michael’s Road and Fant Hall in Fant Lane.


He said: “Aswell as the teachers,


my parents were always there if I needed support, though they never pushed me.” Luke now hopes to study for a


PhD. He said: “I’m particularly in- terested in the development of an- tibiotics and, one day, hope to become a university lecturer. “If someone had told me at jun-


ior school I would go on to be a sci- entist I’d have been lost for words.”


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