Election results

Thank you to the voters of Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley who returned me for another term as County Councillor last Thursday. The result was declared at the conclusion of the count on Friday afternoon. Here are the figures:

Roger Gough (Conservative)      3,491 (64.3%)

Michael Barker (Green)                   691 (12.7%)

David Griffiths (Labour)                  625 (11.5%)

Tristan Ward (Lib Dem)                   619 (11.4%)

Turnout, at 34.0%, was up a little on four years ago. 

I was delighted with this result; my share of the vote was almost exactly the same as four years ago, and I am proud to go on representing the area that I love to live in. 

Similarly, the overall County Council election results were a big success for the Conservative Group which I lead. The Conservatives secured 61 out of the 80 seats being contested (the 81st, Elham Valley, will have a special election on 17 June because of the death of the Labour candidate during the campaign); this is a net reduction of 5 from the high water mark of 2017.  The Conservative share of the vote was similarly almost in line with four years ago (49% compared with 50%) and the county saw fewer Conservative losses than most other parts of the south east.

You can find full details of the election results on the excellent page on the County Council’s website. A video of my immediate reaction to the results is here.

There was more movement in seats and voting patterns than the headline figures indicate. The Conservatives gained four seats not held in 2017 (in Ashford, Gravesend, Hythe and Maidstone) but lost nine. These losses included three Cabinet Members: Michael Payne (Highways) and Richard Long (Education) lost to the Greens in Tonbridge, and Mike Whiting (Economic Development) to the Swale Independents in Swale West. Other losses included Margaret Crabtree (Deputy Cabinet Member for Finance) in Sevenoaks Town and Michael Northey (Vice-Chairman of the Council) in Canterbury South, both to the Liberal Democrats. A number of those who lost were friends as well as colleagues. 

The results in Kent partly reflect local factors; we certainly stood proudly on our record and our plans for the County.  However, they also match some of the trends seen nationally from ‘Super Thursday’, including the Conservative ‘bounce’ from the successful vaccination programme; the continuing change in composition of Conservative support; the travails that the Labour Party, like so many European centre left parties is undergoing; and the rise of Greens and Independents.

My first task now is to assemble a new Cabinet, and I will make an announcement on that in the coming days. After that, the policy and decisions in tray - relating to post-Covid recovery, the quality of life in the county and major national policy initiatives - is huge. Watch this space.