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.

Transport 'big conversation' getting under way

The County Council's planned engagement and debate with residents - especially in rural areas - on transport issues, dubbed the 'Big Conversation', is getting under way. The aim is to engage the public, groups such as Parish Councils, and potential providers of services such as community transport, in a detailed examination of the best way in which we can provide access to transport in rural and more isolated areas.

The engagement programme will include parish seminars and 11 District-based public meetings, which will be held between 7 and 9 in the evening. The Sevenoaks meeting will be in the Stag Theatre on Wednesday 4 July. This should be an opportunity to help shape policies that will be important to many of the communities of the Darent Valley and surrounding area.

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.