Off the Record

You can’t deny the Conservatives had a stonking victory in the county council election and deserved a little celebration. Conservative leader Paul Carter made sure suitable refreshments were available – stopping off at an off licence for a few bottles of champagne on his way back to County Hall from the Maidstone count.

Well, if you can’t celebrate an election landslide, when can you?

Ukip privately had concerns about its prospects in the election and must have it thought it could mitigate its losses by disclosing some positive news about a US-based company taking an interest in Manston Airport.

It moved quickly to report the good news and as evidence that the party lived up to its promises, something the party has regularly been accused of not doing.

It didn’t have had much impact as the party lost all its seats in Thanet.

One Conservative who need not have been too anxious about the result was David Brazier, whose margin of victory in his Sevenoaks division was by any measure rather large. His share of the vote? A mere 78%. It’s the kind of mandate Theresa May must dream of.

Kent County Council now has a professional DJ among its elected members. Step forward the Labour councillor Dara Farrell who is professional DJ and now represents the Ashford South division. Oh, and he is also now the group Labour leader on KCC. As one wag put it, he should be good at spin.

The media had an unofficial sweepstake on the number of seats the Conservatives would win. The sweepstake also involved certain PR officers. Sad to say, but the Press were outdone. Off The Record had a guess at 71 seats, somewhat wide of the mark.

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