In all the furore over the Kent County Council elections in May and Reform UK’s landslide victory, one election result seems to have been overlooked by many.

A by-election for the Snodland East and Ham Hill Ward of Tonbridge and Malling council saw Luke Chapman, a Conservative, elected to what had previously been a Labour-held seat - bucking his party’s national trend.

The by-election was caused by the sudden death of Cllr Wayne Mallard to cancer in February, who had held the seat for Labour since 2023, and had previously been a long-serving member of Snodland Town Council.

Cllr Maynard had been held in high personal esteem and his passing attracted tributes from colleagues and political opponents alike, with Tory council leader Matt Boughton among those posting online tributes to “a man of the people, who cared passionately about Snodland”.

But Cllr Maynard’s personal reputation was not enough to help the Labour candidate, Shaun Loader, in May, who was beaten into second place with 346 votes compared with Cllr Chapman’s 543.

For the past month, Cllr Chapman, a 32-year-old assistant pub manager, has been settling into his new role.

Born and bred in Snodland, he has spent most of his life in the town, except for a short stay in nearby Aylesford.

He said: “I have some experience of council work, having been a member of Aylesford Parish Council for two years, so I knew what to expect.”

His election, however, did not entirely go according to plan. A week into the campaign, his Kenyan-born partner gave birth to their first son - Gachwe.

Cllr Chapman said: “That was a bit of a distraction, but we still won through.

“Labour were expected to win, but the issue on the doorstep was the winter fuel allowance and I think the voters wanted to send a message to the Labour party nationally.

“I knew Cllr Mallard - we lived on the same road - and he was a great asset to Snodland, but voters wanted a change.”

“I campaigned on the issues that people care about - protecting Snodland’s character from over-development, and - a key issue - tackling anti-social behaviour.”

Since his election, Cllr Chapman has launched a campaign with the help of KentOnline to identify “Lorenzo” - a graffiti artist who has been defacing much of Snodland with his tags in recent months - as well as Larkfield, Aylesford and Rochester.

Cllr Chapman said: “Graffiti tags are not needed. They look untidy. If the guy who is doing it wants to contact me, I’ll try and help him find somewhere to do it legitimately.”

Cllr Chapman has also arranged for the town to receive visits from the borough council’s anti-social behaviour officers.

He said: “There has been some unwelcome behaviour at the cricket meadow over the last few weeks, with the pitch damaged and verbal abuse hurled at the players.”

“But the anti-social behaviour team were out in force at the weekend, visiting the trouble hotspots. Hopefully, we can nip this in the bud.”

Cllr Chapman said: “Snodland is actually a great town. It’s thriving.

“We’ve gone from having boarded-up shops, to a town where every site is occupied, and only two by charity shops.

“Angelina’s (cafe) is buzzing after its refurbishment and there is often a queue outside our award-winning bakery.”

But Cllr Chapman has concerns for the future.

He said: “Housebuilding is on the agenda for every town, but I think we’ve had our fair share.

“The Labour Party has introduced this greybelt scheme, which is undermining the protection of the green belt.

“Labour needs to understand - what are we to do with these high numbers?

“They keep putting pressure on borough councils, but have you seen many houses actually being built?”

Cllr Chapman has secured places for himself on various council committees - general purposes, finance, and Area 3 planning, among them.

He said: “Fortunately, my employer had been very flexible about my days off, allowing me to attend the meetings, which are in the evenings.

“It does mean I tend to be either working or at a council meeting.”

His partner has insisted that he turn his phone off on his days off.

He said: “People do contact you 24/7 these days, via social media. But I was already pretty used to that through being a parish councillor.”

But, he said, there had been one correspondent whom he had had to block.

He said: “It was just pretty full on. A relentless stream of criticism and abuse.

“Fortunately, that’s the only time I have experienced that.”

Cllr Chapman is enjoying his political career. “I’m a people person,“ he says, “and it’s an honour to represent Snodland East and Ham Hill.”

He is hoping to stand again for Snodland East at the next borough council election in 2027 - which will be the last before local government reorganisation.

But although this May’s election was his first successful contest for a borough council seat, it was not his first attempt.

Back in 2014, as a young 21-year-old sporting a rather wild hairstyle, he had stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Snodland East.

He said: “You do change your views sometimes as you get older and I have been a Conservative now for the past five years.

“Bringing up a family you tend to get a little bit wiser with money, a little bit more Conservative.”

The by-election results:

Luke Chapman, Con, 543

Shaun Loader, Lab, 346

Nick Watts, Ind, 195

Kim Winterbottom, Green, 151

There was no Reform UK candidate.