Kent election results 2022: Conservatives lose control of Maidstone

Maidstone Borough Council was the first in Kent to declare all its results

The Conservatives have lost control of Maidstone Borough Council after shedding two seats and leaving them one short of a majority.

The authority is now under no overall control, with the Conservatives on 27 seats, the Lib Dems 12, six independents, five Labour and four councillors for the Maidstone Group and one Green.

Turnout in Maidstone was 30%.

Tunbridge Wells also remains under no overall control.

Stuart Jeffery has been voted in as Maidstone Borough Council's first Green councillor

In Tunbridge Wells the Conservatives lost eight seats and are no longer the largest party on the council, falling behind the Liberal Democrats, who are now the largest party.

Conservative leader, and outgoing leader of the council, Tom Dawlings said: "I'm really disappointed that some very good councillors have been voted out, and I think in certain ways it's undeserved.

"We've done a good job during the pandemic, lots of good things happening in the town and it's disappointing that the local issues on which we fought the campaign were lost in a national fog."

The former Conservative leader of Tunbridge Wells said the local issues were "lost in a national fog"

The Tunbridge Wells Alliance now has 9 councillors, winning 3 seats.

Matthew Sankey, of the Alliance, said: "People are feeling disenfranchised with national parties and they're voting for independent people like myself and my colleagues.

"We are certainly talking to the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party about how we can run the council together."

Analysis

By Charlotte Wright, Political Editor, BBC South East

There is no doubt that these have been a tough set of results for Conservatives in the South East.

Particularly brutal for the Tories in Tunbridge Wells, where they lost ten seats and the Lib Dems took over as the largest party.

Losses, too, in Maidstone and Tandridge.

And, for the first time ever, Worthing council turned from blue to red.

In recent years there has been a slight trend away from the Conservatives in some of these councils. They lost overall control of Tandridge in 2019 and of Tunbridge Wells last year. Some put it down to local issues like house-building.

But national politics could be at play too. In places like Tunbridge Wells, a remain-voting area, where support for the Prime Minister himself isn't necessarily as strong, activists say "partygate" has repeatedly come up on the doorstep.

Demographic change clearly is playing a part too - young people, often more inclined to vote Labour or Lib Dem, are moving to Worthing from Brighton, or to Tunbridge Wells from London.

Make no mistake, the South East is still Tory-heartland. The county councils are Conservative and almost all its MPs are too.

But today's results have certainly introduced a few more splashes of colour in a sea of blue.

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