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.
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.
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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