With just two months to go until the local elections in Medway, Local Democracy Reporter Katie May Nelson examines the issues and the runners and riders in one of the county's most unique political landscapes.

The Conservative Group currently runs Medway Council with a majority of 13 councillors, but could this all be set to change?

On the national stage, the situation facing their party doesn't look great.

The latest national opinion poll from Ipsos shows more than half of those surveyed want to vote for Labour at the next general election compared with 26% for the Tories.

Furthermore, 55% think they have done a poor job and there needs to be a change in government.

In a recent article for ConservativeHome, council leader Cllr Alan Jarrett said: "We will encourage our voters to park any misgivings they have for the national Conservative brand and focus on local issues."

To get an idea of the lay of the political land, we only need to look at recent by-election results, and two very thorny issues around development which dominate the political debate in Medway.

There's been four local by-elections since the last local election in 2019.

One of these saw Labour gain a seat from the Conservatives in Strood North almost two years ago.

Medway by-elections 2021-2022: Rochester East December 2021 – Labour hold; Princes Park August 2021 – Conservative hold; Strood North August 2021 – Labour gain; Peninsula December 2022: Independent hold.

Victory for independent candidate George Crozer on the Hoo Peninsula at the end of last year gives us an idea of the prevailing issue in this part of the Towns.

He is a long-standing campaigner and critic of development on the Peninsula – bagging 667 more votes than his closest rival, a Conservative, in the poll.

This came just over three years after the council announced it had received £170 million from the government's Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF).

This will be spent developing infrastructure to support the delivery of 10,600 homes on the peninsula.

The controversial plans have been criticised by councillors of all colours.

First came the plans for a flyover connecting Islingham Farm Road to the A289 Hasted Way which attracted the ire of Tories in Strood Rural and were eventually dropped.

This three-strong group also raised concerns about how the costs for the project had been worked out.

The plans for a railway connection between a new station in High Halstow and Strood were also dropped, which was criticised by Labour.

Furthermore, the newly-formed Independent Group – consisting of Cllr Crozer and Cllr Ron Sands – were backed by Tory MP Kelly Tolhurst in opposing plans for a road which would intersect the closed Deangate Ridge Golf Club.

The land is a popular walking route which is seen as an unofficial country park to peninsula folk. This plan has also now been dropped.

Various consultations the council has run on the subject of the HIF have largely attracted negative comments from residents who are concerned about the impact the new homes would have on the area's unique environment.

Some of these residents joined forces with those wanting to see Chatham Docks retained as a working port, staging a joint protest at the council in October 2021.

This leads us to the next issue, which has seen Tories on the brink of breaking apart.

Chatham Docks could close in 2025 to make way for 3,625 homes, but pivotal to whether this goes ahead or not is Medway Council's Local Plan.

The site, owned by Peel L&P, is currently designated under the authority's 2003 plan as employment land.

In order to effectively allow Peel's plans for new homes and commercial space on the site, the council would have to change the land designation.

The council has spent years trying to formulate a new blueprint for 27,000 new homes across the Towns, and in October 2021, the Tories pulled the plug on the draft plan at the 11th hour, citing a lack of "political consensus".

Ms Tolhurst and the Labour Group have been joined by a vocal group of Tories including Cllr Rupert Turpin, who was sacked from his cabinet position after voicing concern over the plans.

The row also filtered into the group's selection interviews for who will stand as election candidates in May.

Cllr Gloria Opara – who until recently had been the group's only black female representative – called on Cllr Jarrett to step down after accusing him of "bombarding" her with questions about the Local Plan after she said she wanted to know more about the benefits and drawbacks of closing the docks.

Last year, the council decided it would have to row back a stage in its development of the plan, and called on landowners to put forward sites all over again.

Changing of the guard

Some senior councillors including Cllr Jarrett and former leader Rodney Chambers are calling time on their political careers.

With these, and the list of Tories who we currently know are leaving – Cllr Jane Chitty, Cllr Diane Chambers, Cllr Kirstine Carr, Cllr Martin Potter, and Mayor Cllr Jan Aldous – that equates to some 180 years of political experience leaving the Conservative Group.

The authority's chief executive Neil Davies will also be retiring at the end of June, with his deputy Richard Hicks taking over.

The new leader of the Medway Conservative Group will be selected by members after the election at its annual general meeting.

This might put off Tory voters as they don't know who the next potential council leader will be.

However, among those who have put themselves forward to be a Tory councillor, there are some who are in their early 20s.

For instance, Craig Liddell who is standing in the new ward of Strood North and Frindsbury is 21, and his contemporary George Perfect for Rainham North is 22.

Could they be the ones to herald a new era for the Conservative Group and bring fresh ideas to the council?

Who might be in the running to take over from Cllr Jarrett?

The obvious choice is the authority's current deputy, Cllr Howard Doe, who's been on the council since 2000 and was a Gillingham borough councillor.

He’s been a leading light in the authority’s green agenda and getting the Splashes leisure centre in Rainham replaced.

Another Rainham representative, Gary Hackwell, was only elected in 2019 but he has quickly risen to the top, replacing Cllr Turpin as portfolio holder for business management .

After being propelled to the forefront of the debate over Chatham Docks, and more recently criticising aspects of the HIF project, Cllr Turpin could use the changing political winds to get the top job.

Another name worth mentioning is Stuart Tranter. Living and breathing Rochester, he is also a Conservative Group member who has opposed the development of Chatham Docks. Out with the olds, in with the diverse

What about the red side?

On the other side of the coin, the Labour Group are promising a diverse line up should they take the win.

Cllr Vince Maple, who wants to be the council's next leader, said: "If you think about the current cabinet, it's a pretty undiverse set of 10 individuals, eight of whom are white men.

"We will have a far more diverse cabinet, and that's not for doing it for the sake of it; those will be some of the most talented politicians in Medway who will deliver great services, and it happens to be that that will also give us the most diverse cabinet that Medway has ever had in its existence."

From his side, four councillors who are all from Gillingham will be calling it day.

They are: Cllr Andy Stamp, Cllr Clive Johnson, Cllr Pat Cooper and Cllr John Lloyd.

The group hasn't been without its internal rows, and last year, Cllr Maple's fellow Chatham Central ward colleague, Cllr Siju Adeoye, quit Labour and crossed the floor, saying she was unhappy about the group's attitudes towards racial equality.

Her decision also came after she was unsuccessful in her bid to be selected to stand in Gillingham South.

Cllr Maple said he regretted anyone leaving the Labour Party, adding the 59 candidates his group is putting forward is also the most diverse it has ever had.

He added how the group put the positive reception it has got on the doorsteps down to national politics.

He explained: "This has been the most positive response we've had on doorsteps for a very long time, and there's a mixture of reasons for that, I think.

"There are some people who think it's time for change as a council, and people will have heard me talking about residents choosing change and choosing Labour, and they're absolutely doing that.

"I was speaking to a couple of residents in Strood, one of whom was 90 years old and has been voting Conservative for the best part of 70 years. They will be voting Labour this May.

"I'm sure politicians locally of all political persuasion would say we're all putting forward our different ideas and views of how we can make Medway better, but it would be naïve for a local politician to not recognise that in some cases, people are voting because of the national issues."

But if the Labour Group does take over, what can residents expect?

Part of what the group is promising to do is working to continue on with improvements to the children's services department, which was rated 'Inadequate' in 2019.

But whatever happens, tough decisions will have to be made.

Cllr Maple explained: "We know that whoever is running the council has got somewhere in the region of a £17 to £19 million hole.

"Part of our job in those first 100 days will be to understand the mess that we're being left, and it will be a mess.

"The finances of this council were not in a good place. We've had successive budgets which have come forward which effectively have been supplemented by the reserves, and you can only spend reserves once.

"So we need to understand quickly what the current financial situation is."

A report presented to councillors ahead of last week's budget meeting said the council may have to use over £17 million of its reserves at the end of the financial year unless the current financial position improves.

However, during the meeting, Cllr Jarrett announced £2.6 million in savings – some of which was from staff vacancies and restructuring – had been found.

Cllr Maple said one of the ways his group would aim to bring down the budget gap is reviewing how many outside consultants and locum staff the council employs, and bringing more services in-house such as children's social care placements.

He added how his group would aim to regenerate high streets, create 1,000 new jobs by 2027 by working with medium and large-sized companies to bring investment into the Towns, and would be supporting grassroots projects.

He said: "We'd be working with town centre forums, small businesses, community groups, and the 'Friends Of' groups who look after our green spaces on a daily basis.

One way Labour are looking to improve the five town centres are by looking at the introduction of Business Improvement Districts.

Other areas across the county have introduced these including Maidstone and Canterbury. They are only introduced following a local referendum agreeing to them.

He explained: "It's saying to those communities, those businesses and other players in the town centres and high streets, 'It's for you to decide if you want to take this scheme forward, we will support you having that conversation'.

"The council will always be part of that, but it will be led by those in the community.

"We're winning power to give away power, and I think that's for me the big differential."

The nitty gritty

This will also be the first election with new ward boundaries.

The Local Government Boundary Commission carried out a revision of the council ward boundaries, which were confirmed in Parliament last year.

The changes do not affect every ward, but it does mean there will be four more council seats up for grabs.here will be 24 wards – an increase of two – which will be represented by one, two, or three councillors per ward.

This will also be the first local election in which people will be expected to bring ID with them to polling stations.

If eligible votes don't have an acceptable form of photo ID – such as a passport, driving licence, or bus pass – they can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate online before Tuesday, April 25.