Much To Do About Nothing

Following our impartial and insightful iFAQ on which councillors were standing in #LocalElection2019. We thought it was time to follow up and see if there were any candidates and any new runners and riders.

We, along with the intrepid Medway Elects, attempt to keep you informed and up to date despite the best efforts of some local parties.

Election Rules to stand

Could I be a councillor?

As long as you are:

  • British or a citizen of the Commonwealth or European Union
  • At least 18 years old
  • Registered to vote in the area or have lived, worked or owned property there for at least 12 months before an election

You can’t be a councillor if you:

  • Work for the council you want to be a councillor for, or for another local authority in a political restricted post
  • Are the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or interim order
  • Have been sentenced to prison for three months or more (including suspended sentences) during the 5 years before election day
  • Have been convicted of a corrupt or illegal practice by an election court

If you are in any doubt about whether you are eligible to stand as a councillor, you should contact the electoral services department at your local council for advice.

Getting officially nominated

Whether you’ve been selected by a party or are standing as an independent candidate, you must make sure that you are officially nominated as the election date draws nearer. This means getting 10 people to sign your nomination papers (signatories must be registered electors in the ward where you wish to stand) available from your local council’s democratic services department.

Who stood in 2015?

In 2015 the candidate split was as follows: 
55 Conservative
55 Labour
32 UKIP
22 TUSC
18 Liberal Democrat
13 Green 
4 Independent
and
1 English Democrat

Results of #LocalElection2015

(according to the wonderful people at Medway Elects)

Vote Share
2015 Council

Medway Politics People’s Party

It is at this point, and with no consideration and discussion, that we officially announce that neither Jennings nor Keevil will be standing in #LocalElection2019.

Medway Conservatives

Chatham & Aylesford

https://twitter.com/MedwayPolitics/status/1071761419480260608
Current Councillors

Lordswood and Capstone (current: 2 Conservative)
Alan Jarrett
We contacted Cllr Jarrett following the iFAQ and we are happy to announce that the current Leader of the Council will be standing in 2019.
David Wildey
We contacted Cllr Wildey and are currently unable to confirm that he knows how to work email.

Luton and Wayfield (current: 2 Labour, 1 Conservative)
Michael Franklin
For some reason we can’t quite fathom, Cllr Franklin has been reselected, and Robbie Lammas and Ade Kosoko have been chosen to fight alongside him.

Princes Park (current: 2 Conservative)
Tashi Bhutia
Gloria Opara
Both have been spotted out leafleting so they are aleast certainly restanding.

Walderslade (current: 2 Conservative) 
David Brake
Adrian Gulvin
Cllr Gulvin told us by email that both he and Cllr Brake will be restanding, but is ‘not prepared to enter a general discussion on other issues’ because he has ‘far more important things to do’ with his time. Which certainly told us.

Gillingham & Rainham

Current Councillors

Hempstead and Wigmore (current: 2 Conservative)
Diane Chambers
Rodney Chambers
We have heard that Diane and Rodney Chambers will be standing down next year. We have emailed them for confirmation, but are yet to received a response.

Rainham Central (current: 3 Conservative)
Rehman Chishti
Barry Kemp
Jan Aldous
We emailed all three councillors to ask what their plans are for 2019, but received no responses.

Rainham North (current: 2 Conservative)
David Carr
Martin Potter
Neither councillor has confirmed their intentions fo 2019.

Rainham South (current: 3 Conservative)
Howard Doe
David Royle
Les Wicks
Cllr Royle has responded to confirm that he will be standing down. Cllr Doe and Cllr Wicks did not respond to our enquiries.

Twydall (current: 2 Labour, 1 Independent)
For some reason Strood South councillor Mark Joy will be standing in Twydall, along with Jim Gilborne and Natalie Jarvis.

https://twitter.com/Rehman_Chishti/status/1068913652198187010

Watling (current: 2 Conservative)
Wendy Purdy
Asha Saroy
The below Conservatives 4 Watling Twitter account has appeared so we assume both are intending to stand again.

Rochester & Strood

”As Association Chairman of Rochester & Strood, I am replying on their behalf.
Currently, we as an Association we have agreed at a recent Executive Meeting, that any official announcement of any potential re-selection or acceptance of any new candidates will not be released until the New Year”

Cllr Etheridge
Current Councillors

Cuxton and Halling (current: 1 Conservative)
Matt Fearn
While the association refuse to release any information on candidates until the New Year, Cllr Fearn has been out delivering a leaflet promoting himself.

Peninsula (current: 1 UKIP, 1 Conservative, 1 Independent)
Phil Filmer
The below leaflet is being circulated, confirming Cllr Filmer is standing again, along with Harold Ogunfemi and Gloria Thienel, the last of whom seems to be a big fan of our work.

What happened?

River (current: 2 Conservative)
Andrew Mackness
Habib Tejan

Rochester South and Horsted (current: 3 Conservative)
Trevor Clarke
Sylvia Griffin
Rupert Turpin
Cllr Clarke has confirmed he will restand in 2019.

Rochester West (current: 1 Conservative, 1 Labour)
Stuart Tranter
It would appear that Cllr Tranter is standing again, given the prominence of his face on the Twitter account of new Rochester West candidate Rebecca Ryan.

Strood North (current: 3 Conservative)
Jane Chitty
Phil Hall
Steve Iles
Cllr Hall has confirmed he is standing down, with Fatima Mitchell attempting to take his spot.

Strood Rural (current: 3 Conservative)
Gary Etheridge
Peter Hicks
John Williams

Strood South (current: 3 Conservative)
John Avey
Josie Iles
Mark Joy
Cllr Joy, who lives in Strood and represents Strood, is somehow now a candidate in Twydall.

Medway Labour

Chatham & Aylesford

Chatham Central (current: 3 Labour)
Vince Maple
Obviously, Cllr Maple intends to restand, and will joined by Harinder Singh and Siju Adeoye.

Tweet from 2016

It has been raised to us that Siju joined Labour in September. Which is fine. 

Luton and Wayfield (current: 1 Labour, 1 Conservative, 1 Independent)

Luton and Wayfield (current: 1 Labour, 1 Conservative, 1 Independent)
Tristan Osborne
Cllr Osborne will be restanding alongside new candidates Jo Howcroft-Scott and Simon Curry.

Gillingham & Rainham

Gillingham North (current: 3 Labour)
Pat Cooper
Adam Price
Andy Stamp
All three councillors have confirmed they will be restanding.

Gillingham South (current: 3 Labour)
Clive Johnson
Naushabah Khan
Dan McDonald
All three councillors have confirmed they will be restanding.

Rainham South (current: 3 Conservative)

Twydall (current: 2 Labour, 1 Independent)
Dorte Gilry
Glyn Griffiths
Both Cllr Gilry and Cllr Griffiths are standing down, being replaced by the dynamic combo of Hazel Browne, John Lloyd, and Mark Prenter.

Watling (current: 2 Conservative)

Rochester & Strood

Rochester East (current: 2 Labour)
Nick Bowler
Teresa Murray
Both councillors have confirmed they will be fighting again in 2019.

Rochester West (current: 1 Conservative, 1 Labour)
Alex Paterson
Cllr Paterson has confirmed he will be standing again in 2019, being joined by Elaine Thomas.

Strood North (current: 3 Conservative)
We understand that former councillor Stephen Hubbard will stand again, along with James Braithwaite and Zoe Van Dyke.

Strood South (current: 3 Conservative)
Isaac Igwe will be restanding, along with Anthony Hill. A third candidate remains undisclosed after Funmi Ayeni withdrew.

Medway UKIP

Peninsula (current: 1 Conservative, 1 Independent, 1 UKIP)
Roy Freshwater
Apparently Cllr Freshwater will be standing again, for some reason.

Medway Lib Dems

Oh. Taking aside that unpleasantness, the Medway Lib Dems have three named candidates: John Castle and Alan Wells in River, and Martin Rose in Watling.

Medway Greens

Medway Greens have confirmed that recurring candidate Clive Gregory will be standing again. This time for Peninsula ward. They even had a quiz to raise funds.

Medway TUSC

TUSC is a coalition of trade unionists and socialists and at the moment the consensus is to support Labour and help its left wing to fight austerity. That means we are not standing against Labour in this election and will support candidates with a track record of fighting cuts to public services.

Chas Berry, Medway TUSC

Medway independents

Luton and Wayfield (current: 1 Labour, 1 Conservative, 1 Independent)
Sam Craven
We enquired as to Sam’s intentions for LE2019, and have been informed that no decision has yet been made.

Peninsula
Cllr Pendergast confirmed when he left UKIP that he would be standing again.

https://twitter.com/alancollinspdb/status/1053317238827171841?s=21

Have you heard of the Medway People’s Voice Party, are you a member but forget to tell anybody?

As we work through the campaign, we’ll continue to bring you updates on who is standing where. The simplest source of information is our 2019 candidate list page, which is updated pretty much daily at this point.

Leave a Reply