Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley

I was delighted to be elected at last Thursday's County Council elections as the Member for the new Division of Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley. The results were:

Roger Gough (Conservative)         3,289 (64.4%)
Theo Michael (Labour)                     502 (9.8%)
Krish Shanmuganathan (Lib Dem)   476 (9.3%)
Philip Dodd (Green).                         463 (9.1%)
Graham Cushway (UKIP).                374 (7.3%)

Turnout was 32.3% of a large electorate of almost 16,000 voters.

This was a clear and emphatic result. It is not possible to make a comparison with the 2013 results because of boundary changes, but there has clearly been a strong move towards the Conservatives, as was seen across much of the rest of the county and indeed the country. And while there was some variation between polling districts, it was clear that my support came from across the Division.

My twelve years representing the Darent Valley Division expire tomorrow. I will carry forward into the new Division many of the villages and communities that I have represented, but will sadly lose Swanley Christchurch, Swanley High Firs and Badgers Mount. The new communities in the Division (making up around half the electorate) will be the parishes of Otford, Kemsing and Seal (including Seal Chart and Underriver).

As an electoral map of Kent shows, Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley is a large and rather oddly-shaped Division. It borders London, and runs from the North of the District southwards, snaking round to the East and (despite its name) slightly to the South of Sevenoaks Town. I look forward to representing residents from all communities, old and new.

The outcome in the Division reflected the overall picture in Kent. The Conservatives have been returned with 67 out of 81 County Councillors. The Liberal Democrats, with 6 Councillors, are now the opposition party. UKIP, who made up the official opposition in the 2013-17 Council, have been obliterated from the electoral map of Kent (again, this was reflected locally; while they were runners up in Darent Valley in 2013, they came bottom of the poll in the new Division).

Thank you to everyone who voted, and above all to those who gave me their confidence and support. Tomorrow it is back to County Hall for the start of a new Council term.