Posted on by Steven Keevil

See you next time?

#MedwayElects19 had 199 candidates but only 55 seats to be won.
its impossible to look at everybody who didn’t win, and with Jennings looking at the councillors who stood down and lost, I wanted to take the time to look at some of the candidates who didn’t win so you don’t have to.

Wooden Spoon Awards go to:

Nicole Bushill (Chatham Central, UKIP, lost by 738 votes) – Who was Nicole Bushill, and why was she good enough to beat the Conservatives to fourth place? I really don’t know. So not the best start really..

Jacqueline Cook (Cuxton and Halling, Ind, lost by 672 votes) – Jacqueline was not a member of Medway People’s Voice.

Robert Oakley (Gillingham North, UKIP, lost by 1089 votes) –

And so it seems did the people of Gillingham North.

Terry Allen (Gillingham South, UKIP, lost by 998 votes) – Got in under the 1000! Well done!

Reginald Eldridge (Hempstead and Wigmore, UKIP, lost by 1288 votes) – A lot of UKIP candidates in this list, losing by a considerable amount.

Jonathan Phillips (Lordswood and Capstone, UKIP, lost by 713 votes) – #JustSaying

Robbie Lammas (Luton and Wayfield, Con, lost by 275 votes) – One of the Conservatives bright hopes for the future. On a different night in a different ward..

Rav Jassal (Princess Park, Lab, lost by 379 votes) – Labour should have been in contention to split the ward. If they want to take the council they need to. They didn’t.

Did post links to our stories though, so there’s potential.

Matt Durcan (Rainham Central, Ind, lost by 510 votes) – Congratulations to Matt for doing so well, and for being very pleasant to talk to on the night.

Chiron Mottram (Rainham North, Lab, lost by 1015 votes) – I’m not saying that Labour didn’t try in Rainham North, but I covered the campaign and the count, and I still have no idea who this is.

Jean Appleton (Rainham South, UKIP, lost by 706 votes) – Over 1000 votes less than 2015. #JustSaying

Lia Mandaracas (River, Lab, lost by 65 votes) – Another sign this wasn’t going to be Labour’s night. Another ward they needed to split, and didn’t. Will Lia run again?

Teresa Fawcett (Rochester East, Con, lost by 753 votes) – Congratulations for bucking the trend, and losing but not coming behind UKIP.

Joe Wastell (Rochester South and Horsted, Lab, lost by 682 votes) – Lovely to meet Joe on the night, and I hope he stays involved with local politics. 

Rebecca Ryan (Rochester West, Con, lost by 109 votes) – Rebecca did well considering you wouldn’t have known she was campaigning in the ward, and she definitely isn’t supporting the Brexit Party. 

https://twitter.com/BeccyRyan/status/1125319193463787520

James Braithwaite (Strood North, Lab, lost by 82 votes) – However that was to the mayor, so wouldn’t have counted. Which is a shame as James is a different voice.

https://twitter.com/RedBraithwaite/status/1125047575416135680

Martin Cook (Strood Rural, UKIP, lost by 462 votes) – #JustSaying

Lindsey Burke (Strood South, Lab, lost by 19 votes) – Agonisingly close against former UKIP candidate and new Conservative Cllr Thorne. Hopefully one to watch on the #RoadTo2023. This was the ward that showed it was the Conservative’s night.

Issac Igwe (Strood South, Lab, lost by 19 votes) – Hopefully one not to watch out for on the #RoadTo2023 following three losing efforts in a row. Let’s make this a goodbye.

Natalie Jarvis (Twydall, Con, lost by 173 votes) – Seemed nice at the count. Didn’t sit with the main Conservative cohort, but not reading anything into that.

Jonathan Brind (Walderslade, Lab, lost by 540 votes) – Seemed intense and angry all count, even before the ward result was declared.  

Jordan Hartley (Watling, Lab, lost by 260 votes) Congratulations on coming third. We salute you.

The Also Rans:

Katherine Porter (Cuxton and Halling, Lab, lost by 681 votes) – Cuxton and Halling is a ward to watch for the future through population growth and boundary reviews. Whilst this was Katherine’s first, we understand her mother is involved at a parish level (which is all we really understand about Cuxton parish), but maybe it’ll inspire her to go again in 2023, and start sooner.

Chris Sams (Gillingham North, Lib Dem, lost by 1650 votes) – And with that maybe the last time we will see his name on a ballot. But be sure to join him here for more excellent #BoringHistory.

Geoff Juby (Gillingham South, Lib Dem, lost by 1266 votes) – Mr. Juby once sat on Medway Council as leader of the Lib Dem group. This result is a telling sign that Lib Dems should look at other wards, if they seriously want to get back.

Paul O’Neil (Luton and Wayfield, Lib Dem, lost by 800 votes) – Lib Dems came last a lot. 

Gloria Thienel (Peninsula, Con but not really, lost by 191 votes) – We said everything we had to say here. 

Chris Spalding (Peninsula, Ind, lost by 613 votes) – Chris was not a member of Medway People’s Voice, and that was a conscious choice. 

Alexandra Chatfield (Rainham South, Lab, lost by 778 votes) – To have come so far off the mark will be disappointing for this Sure Start campaigner. However potentially one of Labour’s lights of the future, and again a case of maybe in a different ward.

https://twitter.com/AlexandraChatf1/status/1125663603762323456

Mike Walters (Rainham South, Lib Dem, Lost by 1076 Votes) – Is there no stopping the one man rainbow coalition? He fired his agent, but he did the same numbers as other Lib Dem candidates, so yes he can be stopped.

John Castle (River, Lib Dem, lost by 475 votes) – #JustSaying

Not in Medway.

Viv Parker (Rochester South and Horsted, Lib Dem, lost by 1133 votes) –  Viv’s sixth campaign in the ward and worst result yet! #AchievementUnlocked

Catriona Jamieson (Rochester West, Green, lost by 695 votes) – I’d like to see Catriona more on the #RoadTo2023 and hope this isn’t the last time she appears on a ballot.

Alan Collins (Watling, Lib Dem, lost by 455 votes) Came fifth in their target ward. Best of luck in 2023 with either the Greens or MRLP!

https://twitter.com/alancollinspdb/status/1124617514984538112

And finally..

One of the biggest reactions of the night was for the unsuccessful campaign of friend of the blog Andrew Lawrence.

Andrew’s toxic campaign came to an end, not due to slipped disc from constantly moving goal posts, but ultimately the ‘dirty campaign’ of showcasing his own words. Surprisingly his ‘I don’t troll’ Twitter account disappeared a couple of days before the election and his blog ‘about everything’ now only has six posts. Which is a shame because in person he seems nice.

An odd weekend followed, in which he couldn’t decide if the Watling account @Conservatives43 was about him or not:

Other tweets have been deleted and he has launched a new account, for what I’m sure will be robust open discussion about politics and Medway.

For some the #RoadTo2023 starts here, but for others we may never see them appear on Medway Elects again.

Let us take a moment to reflect on their losses, and maybe consider making a Ko-fi donation while we’re at it..

One Reply to “See you next time?”

  1. A town in Romania voted for their dead Mayor in preference to the living Candidate. Several American elections have been won by dead candidates. I have been fighting elections since 1982 I assure you that even death won’t stop me!

    Reply

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