News | Elections


downsmail.co.uk No surprise as Tories return


THERE were no shocks in our fourWestminster constituencies on June 8, with the Conservatives taking them comfortably as the national party reeled from an unexpected downturn in its fortunes. In Maidstone and the Weald,


Helen Grant increased her majority by around 7,000, with Labour com- ing in second and the local Liberal Democrat candidate Emily Fermor pushed into third. Helen Whately, in Faversham and


Mid Kent, increased her majority slightly with the strong Ukip show- ing in 2015 melting away, appar- ently to Labour. Mrs Whately said: “I just want to


say thank you to my team and all the people who voted for me. “It is a fantastic honour to be elected as the member for such a brilliant constituency. “But given all thatwent on at a na-


tional level, I have to say it feels like a bit of a hollow victory. “Nationally, we clearly lost some


seats and lost some very good MPs. The result didn’t go our way and we’ll have to reflect on that.” In Chatham and Aylesford,


Tracey Crouch saw her majority dip slightly, largely due to theUkip vote passing to her Labour rival Vince Maple. In Tonbridge and Malling, Tom Tugendhat also saw his major- ity dip by a tiny amount. In all four constituencies, the Ukip


vote haemorrhaged to Labour’s ap- parent benefit, in line with the na- tional trend. Victorious Tracey Crouch said on


Twitter: “I’m so grateful to everyone who voted for me in Chatham and


Helen Grant is re-electedMP for Maidstone and theWeald


Aylesford. I’m truly humbled and look forward to getting on with the job.”


Miss Crouch will carry on as


sports minister but loses her arts portfolio in favour of charities and social enterprises. Mr Tugendhat said: "I'm deeply honoured to have been re-elected as MPfor Tonbridge and Malling with an increased percentage of the vote, and more support than before. I'll continue my work for all of our communities. I look forward to working with people in our towns and villages to deliver what we need.”


EDITOR’S ANALYSIS


THEweather on election nightwas rather portentous. Great crashes of thunder and streaky lightning raged across Maidstone’s


blackened skyline, almost on the stroke ofmidnight of June 8. The torrential rain, heavy as hard luck when it came, was amplified mas-


sively inside the cavernous conference centre at the Detling showgrounds. The Conservative activists, who should have been buoyant knowing their


candidateswerehomeand dry, looked stunned, even two hours after the exit polls indicated a hung parliament. A near two-month long election campaign, which had started with Con-


servative certainty and optimism and ended with mild doubts as the polls tightened, collapsed into shock and near panic on the bong of 10pm. Exit polls canbewrong, of course, but theyare never too farwrong. This one


was pretty much spot-on. What the Tories failed to guess was that Ukip voters would haemorrhage


to Labour and the young would be mobilised into huge scarlet battalions. Those trendswere evident all over Kent, even in the county town. Then there was the inexplicable farrago of a Tory manifesto kicking the


legs fromunder pensioners. Who thought a “snap” general election campaign lasted sevenweeks? Nearly everyone – except optimistic backbenchers – seems to think that


come the autumn or winter,we’ll be on this carousel once more. Whether Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn can realistically survive proper


scrutiny of the feel-good treats in his manifesto and get the youngsters out a second time is anyone’s guess. And Nigel Farage could be in charge of Ukip once more. It is highly unlikely, should it happen, that another snap election will yield


any shocks for Helens Grant and Whately, TomTugendhat or Tracey Crouch. But whatwe need fromthem rightnowis to keep cool heads and act in the best interests of their constituents and the country.


Simon Finlay 18 Maidstone East July 2017 Boards ‘could soon be back’


NEWLY-elected MP Helen Grant used her general election posters to say thank you to the near 30,000 voters who helped her to increase her majority in Maidstone and theWeald by some 7,000. Meanwhile, fellow Tory Helen Whately was spotted on Sunday on


theA2 near Faversham, taking down posters and dismantling displays from her campaign, which also resulted in an increased majority. One obsverver said: "The way things are going for the Conservatives at the minute, she'll be putting them back up soon enough!"


HOW YOU VOTED


Faversham &Mid Kent Helen Whately (Con) 30,390 Michael Desmond (Lab) 12,977 David Naghi (Lib Dem) 3,249 Mark McGiffin (Ukip) 1,702 Alastair Gould (Green) 1,431 Maj 17,413, turnout 65.5%


Maidstone & TheWeald Helen Grant (Con) 29,136 Allen Simpson (Lab) 11,432 Emily Fermor (Lib Dem) 8,455 PamelaWatts (Ukip) 1,613 Stuart Jeffery (Green) 888 Yolande Kenward (Ind) 172 Maj 17,704, Turnout 68.6%


Chatham & Aylesford Tracey Crouch (Con) 25,587 Vince Maple (Lab) 15,129 Nicole Bushill (Ukip) 2,225 Thomas Quinton (Lib Dem) 1,116 Bernard Hyde (Green) 573 John Gibson (Christian People’s Al- liance) 260 Maj 10,458, turnout 63.7%


Tonbridge &Malling TomTugendhat (Con) 36,218 Dylan Jones (Lab) 12, 710 Keith Miller (Lib Dem) 3,787 Elizabeth Clark (Green) 2,335 Colin Bullen (Ukip) 1,857 Maj 23,508, turnout 73.6%


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