Reform UK Candidates John Vye And David Finch Win Party’s First Seats On Medway Council For Rochester East And Warren Wood As Labour Regain Gillingham South In Byelection

Reform UK have won two seats on Medway Council for the first time and Labour have regained one after voters went to the polls.

Liubov Nestorova (Lab) will now represent the ward of Gillingham South and John Vye and David Finch (Ref) have taken the two seats for Rochester East and Warren Wood following yesterday’s by-election.

David Finch and John Vye are the first Reform UK councillors to be elected to Medway Council, winning both seats in Rochester East and Warren Wood

The leading group on the council, the Labour Party, won 706 votes in Gillingham South and a total of 1498 in Rochester East and Warren Wood.

It was a disappointing night for Medway Council’s second largest group, the Conservatives, who received only 1,241 votes in total – but some of their members at the count said the outcome had been expected.

Reform UK, who stood for the first time in any Medway Council seat, placed second in Gillingham South but won both seats in Rochester East and Warren Wood.

After the results were declared, independent councillor Chris Spalding announced he had joined the party on the evening of February 5.

This brings the make-up of Medway Council to Labour – 29, Conservatives – 20, The Independent Group – 5, ungrouped independents – 2, and Reform UK – 3.

The three by-elections were called after Labour Medway MPs Lauren Edwards, Tristan Osborne and Naushabah Khan stepped down from the council to focus on their parliamentary duties.

Turnout was 16.4% in Gillingham South and 24.4% for Rochester East and Warren Wood

Rochester East and Warren Wood, and its precursor Rochester East, has been a Labour ward consistently since 2003, and similarly the Gillingham South ward has elected Labour members since 2015 – prior to which it elected Lib Dem councillors.

The full results for the three by-elections are:

Rochester East and Warren Wood:

Carolyn Hart, Labour and Co-Operative Party – 781 votes

Robert Wyatt, Labour and Co-Operative Party – 717 votes

George Clarke, Conservative Party – 479 votes

Tolga Sirlan, Conservative Party – 432 votes

Anita Holloway, Liberal Democrats – 81

Sarah Manuel, Liberal Democrats – 80

John Vye, Reform UK – 802 votes – WINNER

David Finch, Reform UK – 870 votes – WINNER

Doug Bray, Green Party – 141 votes

Jeremy Spyby-Steanson, Green Party – 109 votes

Peter Burch, Heritage Party – 21 votes

Total votes cast: 2317. Turnout: 24.4%

Gillingham South:

Liubov Nestorova, Labour and Co-Operative Party – 706 votes – WINNER

Saboor Ahmed, Conservative Party – 330 votes

Onyx Rist, Liberal Democrats – 99 votes

Rizvi Rawoof, Reform UK – 506 votes

Trish Marchant, Green Party – 167 votes

Peter Wheeler, Social Democratic Party – 69 votes

Roshan Bhunnoo, Heritage Party – 12 votes

Total votes cast: 1895. Turnout: 16.4%

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