Francis

The Conservatives remain the dominant political force in Kent, notwithstanding the shock defeat in Canterbury. Its majorities in most seats remained broadly intact with the average swing against them to Labour at 2.5%.

Labour – again, with the exception of Canterbury – are still some way short of representing a significant threat to the Conservatives. It secured second place in 16 seats after being leapfrogged by Ukip in 2015 but failed to push the Conservatives close in any. The days when it held half the seats in Kent are a distant memory.

The Liberal Democrats’ much-vaunted resurgence in Kent failed to materialise. It had hoped to benefit by positioning itself as the proEuropean centre ground party – which Labour and the Conservatives have vacated. It failed.

Ukip looks like a spent force in the county where it first planted its purple flag. Hard to see where it goes from here after its vote in the county dropped like a stone – by a staggering 62% – on 2015. That followed the loss of all 17 of its county councillors in May. On the other hand, there’s always the ‘Farage factor’ to consider.

Social media was not decisive in the results but it was used less effectively by the Conservatives, despite the huge sums the party spent nationally on Facebook.

The impact of younger voters was underestimated by all the parties – again, with the exception of Labour