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Thursday, January 31, 2019 Kentish Gazette (KG) www.kentonline.co.uk

From page 19

www.kentonline.co.uk

funded by borrowed money. However, the purchase has regularly been used as a stick to beat the authority with as critics point to forecasts indicating the value of retail property is set to fall by at least 20% over the next 12 months.

Despite being so critical of the Conservative councillors’ credentials, Michael admits the Lib Dems are finding it increasingly difficult to find well-rounded candidates.

“As with all the other parties, we go through a selection process and so far I think we’ve got a very good slate,” he says.

“But we’re finding it more and more difficult to get candidates with broad enough experience because it’s a very demanding role and people with that kind of experience don’t have the time unless they’re retired or, like Simon Cook, a house husband.

“We will have paper candidates in seats we don’t expect to win, who might not have the experience we’d want; but they probably won’t be elected, so that’s not a big deal.”

As Michael continues to criticise his Conservative counterparts – labelling many of them “voting fodder” for failing to “contribute” to the running of the council – I realise that his rancour is solely reserved for them. Contrastingly, he adds, “on a personal level, I get on very well with all four Labour councillors”.

And as we say our goodbyes and I begin my stroll back to the office, I’m left with the impression that he believes a left-of-centre coalition is more likely than he divulged. Considering the stranglehold the Conservatives have on the council, it’s a difficult result to envisage. But with May 2 just three months away, we will find out whether it is a fanciful notion soon enough. n Next week we bring you an interview with Canterbury Laboyr Group leader Alan Baldock in the last of our three-part series.