Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
ELECTIONS
Jubilant Labour gain city seats
Drumming up votes during a pandemic meant this was an campaign like no other. Now the county council election results are in, the district’s political map is certainly a bit more colourful...
There are new faces representing the Canterbury district following some seat-shifting at the Kent County Council elections. Across Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable, eight places on the county authority were up for grabs with the Conservatives heading into the election with all but one. But there were a number of shakeups across the board.
The Tories came out of Friday having lost two of their seats, while Labour gained two and the Liberal Democrats remained with their tally of one.
Across the county, the Conservatives comfortably retained overall control of the authority, winning 61 seats - four fewer than last time out. Labour became the official opposition at County Hall after securing seven seats, the Liberal Democrats won six, the Green Party four, plus two independents.
In Canterbury, faces were rosy in the Labour camp. Jubilant MP Rosie Duffield took to Twitter to boast how the party “can’t stop winning” when both of the central city seats - Canterbury City North and Canterbury City South - turned red. Mel Dawkins claimed the former as Lib Dem councillor Ida Linfield came third in the running behind the Tories.
After the result, Cllr Dawkins said: “We want to build on this result and gain more seats. The residents have shown faith in us and we want to repay it.
“For me personally it was a very brief campaign, but very intense, and we made the most of the time, when we could go out, to talk to residents and connect. We have good links in the community and take part in forums, residents’ groups and organisations that deal with local issues.
“We have a good strong Labour team at KCC and now in Canterbury as a whole, which is fantastic.” As for Canterbury City North, the
Tory majority was slashed following the retirement of incumbent Graham Gibbens. There were rumblings his previous votes would not automatically be transferred to the new candidate, Naziyat Khan, and that proved to be true as Labour took the spoils.
Alister Brady took victory by more than 800 votes.
One of the other biggest results and a loss for the blue corner - came in the form of long-standing Tory councillor Michael Northey being ousted in the Canterbury South seat.
He battled it out with Lib Dem candidate Mike Sole, who triumphed by 491 votes.
Cllr Sole said: “The work that I have done as a city councillor for Nailbourne has been recognised across the wider division, and I look forward to bringing a new energy to the role and working hard for residents.
“It was disappointing to see Ida Linfield lose her seat as she worked so hard as a county councillor, but I have shown there is still strong support for the values that I hold as a Liberal Democrat in the district, and when we get that message across, people vote for us. “I’m looking forward to working with the Labour and Conservative councillors in Canterbury, putting the environment at the heart of what we do and listening to what communities want rather than telling them what they need.” Canterbury North remained a Tory stronghold as Robert Thomas stormed to a comprehensive victory, while fellow city councillor Neil Baker has now joined his side at KCC as the fresh face for Whitstable East and Herne Bay West. Mark Dance (Con) retained his position at Whitstable West - narrowly defeating Labour’s Naomi Smith by fewer than 200 votes. Long-term councillor Alan Marsh returned a massive majority in Herne Village and Sturry for the Conservatives and fellow blue Dan Watkins romped home in Herne Bay East.
Licking their wounds - yet still remaining the dominant party the Tories say they will go away and study last week’s polling numbers. New county representative Cllr Baker said: “We will analyse our results, consider our next steps and look to begin the campaign for the next set of elections - which, unless the Prime Minister decides to surprise us, will be the city council elections in 2023.
“As the results showed, while not every division returned a Conservative councillor, we have support in every road in every part of the district and will continue with residents to help them achieve their aspirations and find solutions to their problems. “Elections tend to provide highlights and lowlights for all parties and this one was no exception, despite it being so very different to any we have previously contested. “While we stood under different party banners, I hope all the county councillors across the district will work together to give all residents a strong voice as we look to secure improvements and funding to benefit everyone.
“We all love our district and I like to think we agree on much more than we disagree on.”
■ See Gazette comment, page 28