2023 Medway Council election

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All 59 seats to Medway Council 30 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Vince Maple Alan Jarrett George Crozer Party Labour Conservative Independent Last election 20 seats, 33.2% 33 seats, 40.1% 2 seats, 9.3% Seats won 33 22 4 Seat change 13 11 2 Popular vote 61,612 53,841 7,921 Percentage 44.4% 38.8% 5.7% Swing 11.2% 1.3% 3.6%
Winner of each seat at the 2023 Medway Council election
Leader before election Alan Jarrett Conservative Leader after election Vince Maple Labour

The 2023 Medway Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Medway Council in Kent, England. This election was held on the same day as other local elections. The Labour party won control of the council for the first time since 1998, winning 11 seats while the Conservative party lost 13 seats.^[1][2]

Since the previous election, there have been boundary changes that increased the number of councillors from 55 to 59 and the number of wards from 22 to 24.^[3]

Prior to the election the council was under Conservative majority control, led by Alan Jarrett. He chose not to stand for re-election.^[4]

The election saw Labour take a majority of the seats on the council for the first time since its creation in 1998. The Labour group leader, Vince Maple, was formally appointed as leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 24 May 2023.^[5]

2023 Medway Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	59	33	1	0	13	55.9	44.4	61,612	+11.2
	Conservative	59	22	0	1	11	37.3	38.8	53,841	–1.3
	Independent	8	4	0	0	2	6.8	5.7	7,921	–3.6
	Green	25	0	0	0		0.0	5.6	7,741	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	28	0	0	0		0.0	5.0	6,978	+0.7
	Heritage	1	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	217	N/A
	CPA	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	208	–0.2
	Reform UK	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	143	N/A
	SDP	2	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	132	N/A

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Medway Council following the close of nominations on 5 April 2023.^[6] The results of the election in each ward were as follows: ^[7]

All Saints

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Chris Spalding	295	30.7
	Independent	Julie Wallace	252	26.3
	Conservative	Harold Ogunfemi	190	19.8
	Labour	Kier Kemp	118	12.3
	Reform UK	Bill Khatkar	49	5.1
	Green	Bernard Hyde	34	3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Simpson	22	2.3
Majority			43	4.4
Turnout			965	27.6
Registered electors			3,495
	Independent win (new seat)

Chatham Central and Brompton (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Vince Maple*	1,394	63.3
	Labour Co-op	Nina Gurung	1,211	55.0
	Labour Co-op	Damola Animashaun	1,136	51.6
	Conservative	Paul Khera	552	25.1
	Conservative	Claude King	517	23.5
	Conservative	Habib Tejan Jr	467	21.2
	Green	Rob O'Hanlon	336	15.3
	Liberal Democrats	Geoff Juby	295	13.4
Turnout			2,201	20.9
Registered electors			10,525
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Cuxton, Halling and Riverside (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Matt Fearn*	880	46.4
	Conservative	Phil Filmer*	685	36.1
	Green	Matt Nightingale	641	33.8
	Green	Cat Jamieson	502	26.5
	Labour	Stephen McCormack	414	21.8
	Labour	Victoria Morris	408	21.5
	Liberal Democrats	Ron Gillett	76	4.0
Turnout			1,895	30.9
Registered electors			6,129
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Fort Horsted

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Trevor Clarke*	489	45.2
	Liberal Democrats	Viv Parker	344	31.8
	Labour	Joseph Murray	212	19.6
	Green	Matthew Knott	37	3.4
Majority			145	13.4
Turnout			1,090	30.9
Registered electors			3,530
	Conservative win (new seat)

Fort Pitt (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Smitha Campbell	1,726	55.8
	Labour Co-op	Harinder Mahil*	1,634	52.8
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Myton	1,577	51.0
	Conservative	Rupert Turpin*	1,028	33.2
	Conservative	Richard Thorne*	951	30.7
	Conservative	Gloria Opara*	901	29.1
	Green	Karen Scott	527	17.0
	Liberal Democrats	Nirmal Sandhu	249	8.0
Turnout			3,094	33.7
Registered electors			9,170
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Gillingham North (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Adam Price*	1,419	63.7	+10.7
	Labour Co-op	Douglas Hamandishe	1,355	60.8	+1.8
	Labour Co-op	Lia Mandaracas	1,339	60.1	+2.4
	Conservative	Clayton Barrett	530	23.8	+8.3
	Conservative	Zarina Chishti	439	19.7	+4.6
	Conservative	Harbans Sidhu	410	18.4	+4.0
	Green	Jeremy Spyby-Steanson	340	15.3	+3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Rist	254	11.4	+4.5
Turnout			2,227	21.8
Registered electors			10,237
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op hold

Gillingham South (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dan McDonald*	1,617	65.3	+14.1
	Labour Co-op	Naushabah Khan*	1,531	61.8	+10.1
	Labour Co-op	Louwella Prenter	1,491	60.2	+8.6
	Conservative	Amy Smith	509	19.0	+1.9
	Conservative	Siju Adeoye*	471	15.1	+1.9
	Green	Daniel Belmonte	373	15.1	N/A
	Conservative	George Georghiou	373	15.1	–0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Sams	322	13.0	+0.7
Turnout			2,478	22.4
Registered electors			11,085
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op hold

Hempstead and Wigmore (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Gilbourne	1,709	65.2	–3.1
	Conservative	Andrew Lawrence	1,617	61.7	–5.5
	Labour	Lewis Bailey	603	23.0	+13.3
	Labour	Haroon Kahn	450	17.2	+7.7
	Green	Kat Korff	237	9.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Cavaliere	222	8.5	–1.5
	SDP	Peter Wheeler	58	2.2	N/A
	CPA	John Gibson	50	1.9	N/A
Turnout			2,620	35.1
Registered electors			7,463
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Hoo St Werburgh and High Halstow (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	George Crozer*	2,388	71.3
	Independent	Ron Sands*	2,279	68.1
	Independent	Michael Pearce	2,230	66.6
	Conservative	Robert Tildesley	465	13.9
	Conservative	Chris Sparks	427	12.8
	Conservative	Fatima Mitchell	409	12.2
	Labour	Gary Barwell	358	10.7
	Labour	Giuliana Christmas	336	10.0
	Labour	Steve Vickery	286	8.5
	Green	Julian Sutton	140	4.2
	Reform UK	Steve Hudson	94	2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Aaron Sergejenkovs-Telford	51	1.5
Turnout			3,349	33.3
Registered electors			10,049
	Independent win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)

Lordswood and Walderslade (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Brake*	1,752	52.3
	Conservative	David Wildey*	1,728	51.6
	Conservative	Adrian Gulvin*	1,618	48.3
	Labour	Christine Godwin	917	27.4
	Labour	David Bowen	817	24.4
	Labour	Brad Cook	777	23.2
	Green	Sonia Hyner	339	10.1
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Vincent	272	8.1
Turnout			2,994	27.6
Registered electors			10,857
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Luton (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Simon Curry*	796	51.8
	Labour Co-op	Jo Howcroft-Scott*	751	48.9
	Conservative	Lulu Lammas	541	35.2
	Conservative	Mos Igani	510	33.2
	Green	Debbie Sutton	174	11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul O'Neill	136	8.9
Turnout			1,536	22.4
Registered electors			6,871
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Princes Park (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robbie Lammas*	938	57.9	+9.6
	Conservative	Alex Hyne	933	57.6	+9.9
	Labour	John Strevens	486	30.0	+2.2
	Labour	Temi Olodo	425	26.2	+1.4
	Green	Simon Marchant	156	9.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Sailes	116	7.6	N/A
Turnout			1,621	24.4
Registered electors			6,645
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Rainham North (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Perfect	1,210	40.7	–7.6
	Conservative	Wayne Spring	1,138	38.3	–9.4
	Conservative	Kwashie Anang	1,124	37.8	N/A
	Labour	Mark Harrison	1,025	34.5	+6.7
	Labour	Nikita Morris	946	31.8	+7.0
	Labour	Mutz Khan	907	30.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Bourne	675	22.7	N/A
	Green	Trish Marchant	442	14.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Collins Rosell	402	13.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Chan	323	10.9	N/A
Turnout			2,971	28.7
Registered electors			10,341
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative win (new seat)

Rainham South East (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Roger Barrett*	1,455	51.2
	Conservative	Howard Doe*	1,448	51.0
	Conservative	Gary Hackwell*	1,430	50.3
	Labour	Katrina Campbell	920	32.4
	Labour	Iain Childs	835	29.4
	Labour	Chiron Mottram	759	26.7
	Green	Mary Smith	431	15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Moore	337	11.9
	CPA	Roger Peacock	158	5.6
Turnout			2,842	27.2
Registered electors			10,466
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Rainham South West (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Barry Kemp*	1,177	50.0
	Conservative	Mark Joy	1,027	43.6
	Labour	Christopher Brown	750	31.8
	Labour	Alpa Shah	498	21.1
	Green	Liz O'Hanlon	341	14.5
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Jefferies	269	11.4
	Independent	Matt Duncan	226	9.6
	Independent	Callum Evans	96	4.1
Turnout			2,355	32.2
Registered electors			7,309
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Rochester East and Warren Wood (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Teresa Murray*	1,658	62.9
	Labour Co-op	Lauren Edwards*	1,517	57.5
	Labour Co-op	Tris Osborne*	1,347	51.1
	Conservative	George Clarke	784	29.7
	Conservative	Sylvia Griffin*	755	28.6
	Conservative	Tolga Sirlan	665	25.2
	Green	Marilyn Stone	370	14.0
	Liberal Democrats	Sarah Manuel	206	7.8
Turnout			2,636	28.2
Registered electors			9,363
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Rochester West and Borstal (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Alex Paterson*	1,807	53.7
	Labour Co-op	Linda Bowen	1,670	49.6
	Labour Co-op	Paula Hamilton	1,624	48.2
	Conservative	Stuart Tranter*	1,336	39.7
	Conservative	Faith Rivers	1,080	32.1
	Conservative	Tim Joiner	1,010	30.0
	Green	Stuart Worsley	536	15.9
	Liberal Democrats	Anita Holloway	303	9.0
Turnout			3,366	38.9
Registered electors			8,651
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

St Mary's Island

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Habib Tejan*	479	44.6
	Liberal Democrats	John Castle	323	30.1
	Labour	David Hodges	224	20.9
	Green	Caroline Bowes	47	4.4
Majority			156	14.5
Turnout			1,076	32.8
Registered electors			3,284
	Conservative win (new seat)

Strood North and Frindsbury (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Zoe Dyke*	1,774	53.4
	Labour Co-op	Stephen Hubbard*	1,758	52.9
	Labour Co-op	David Field	1,682	50.6
	Conservative	Gareth Batts	1,202	36.2
	Conservative	Craig Liddell	1,078	32.4
	Conservative	Akin Edun	1,069	32.2
	Green	Andrew Stephen	393	11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Clark	245	7.4
	Heritage	Peter Burch	217	6.5
Turnout			3,323	31.9
Registered electors			10,418
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Strood Rural (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Williams*	1,458	51.1	+9.6
	Conservative	Gary Etheridge*	1,446	50.7	+11.5
	Conservative	Elizabeth Turpin*	1,409	49.4	+13.1
	Labour	Robert Wyatt	849	29.8	+12.5
	Labour	Elaine Thomas	786	27.6	+12.3
	Labour	Derek Munton	742	26.0	+12.2
	Green	Neil Atkinson	379	13.3	–1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Joanna Clark	304	10.7	+0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Millsom	282	9.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Wells	219	7.7	N/A
Turnout			2,852	27.9
Registered electors			10,218
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Strood West (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Sharon Jackson	1,338	50.4
	Labour Co-op	Mark Jones	1,291	48.6
	Labour Co-op	Satinder Shokar	1,236	46.5
	Conservative	Isaac Igwe	991	37.3
	Conservative	Josie Iles*	972	36.6
	Conservative	Chris Buckwell*	970	36.5
	Green	Susan Griffiths	262	9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Wild	159	6.0
	Independent	Rob Heathfield	155	5.8
Turnout			2,656	26.2
Registered electors			10,150
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Twydall (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Hazel Browne*	967	56.4	+18.8
	Labour Co-op	Mark Prenter*	869	50.7	+15.5
	Conservative	Mitchell Brewer	502	29.3	–0.2
	Conservative	Louise Smith	489	28.5	+0.7
	Green	Kate Belmonte	222	12.9	–1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Maureen Ruparel	151	8.8	+1.0
Turnout			1,716	24.1
Registered electors			7,120
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op hold

Watling (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Chrissy Stamp*	1,998	60.5	+25.8
	Labour Co-op	Tracy Coombs	1,977	59.8	+31.1
	Labour Co-op	Marian Nestorov	1,823	55.2	N/A
	Conservative	Steven Marsden	985	29.8	–5.7
	Conservative	Tina Venus-Coppard	817	24.7	–2.9
	Conservative	Adam Strudwick-Long	808	24.5	N/A
	Green	Tina Munro	361	10.9	–0.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Yale	313	9.5	–8.2
Turnout			3,304	32.6
Registered electors			10,149
	Labour Co-op hold
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Wayfield and Weeds Wood (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour Co-op	Esther Cook	986	50.6
	Labour Co-op	Eddie Peake	915	46.9
	Conservative	Caroline Burns	799	41.0
	Conservative	Nawal Rai	689	35.4
	Green	Judith Northwood-Boorman	121	6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Herbert Crack	108	5.5
	SDP	Steve Tanner	74	3.8
Turnout			1,949	27.3
Registered electors			7,143
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)