2015 Swale Borough Council election

An election was held to Swale Borough Council in England as part of the United Kingdom local elections on 7 May 2015.^[1] All 47 seats were up for election under new ward boundaries.

The party results were as follows: Conservatives: 32, UKIP: 9, Labour: 4, and Independents: 2.

Ward Results

Abbey (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Anita Walker	839	18
	Conservative	Bryan Mulhern	799	17
	Labour	Trevor Raymond Payne	659	14
	Labour	Frances Rehal	513	11
	Independent	Sue Akhurst	448	10
	Green	Tina Jane Hagger	389	8
	UKIP	Andrea Mckenna	365	8
	Green	Gary Miller	331	7
	Independent	Gulliver Immink	305	7
Majority
Turnout			4,648	63.0
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Ben Stokes	1,336	32
	Conservative	Duncan Dewar-Whalley	1,295	31
	UKIP	Lloyd George Chapman	881	21
	Labour	Nigel Randell	656	16
Majority
Turnout			4,168	73.1
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Borden and Grove Park (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Nicholas Hampshire	1,403	28
	UKIP	Mike Baldock	1,344	27
	Conservative	Gareth Randall	1,024	21
	UKIP	Pat Kazim	623	13
	Labour	Margaret Cooper	529	11
Majority
Turnout			4,923	67.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	UKIP gain from Conservative		Swing

Boughton and Courtenay (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowles	1,535	27
	Conservative	George Bobbin	1,434	25
	UKIP	Eve Martin	676	12
	Independent	Jeff Tutt	579	10
	Labour	Valerie Janet Collman	518	9
	Green	Tim Valentine	479	9
	Labour	Ashok Kumar Rehal	403	7
Majority
Turnout			5,624	72.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Chalkwell
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Ghlin Whelan	518	44
	Conservative	Sylvia Bennett	366	31
	UKIP	Paul Ian Gebbie	242	21
	Liberal Democrats	Anthea Mary Spurling	44	4
Majority
Turnout			1,170	59.8
	Labour hold		Swing

East Downs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Colin Prescott	1,027	64
	Labour	Barry William Hefferon	294	18
	Green	Huw Maelor Jones	274	17
Majority
Turnout			1,595	75.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Gerry Lewin	1,671	32
	Conservative	John Wright	1,226	23
	UKIP	Richard Palmer	1,070	20
	UKIP	Helen Walker	798	15
	Labour	Simon Clark	534	10
Majority
Turnout			5,299	73.4
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Homewood (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Alan Campbell Horton	1,171	22
	Labour	Roger Truelove	1,052	20
	Labour	Richard Raycraft	983	19
	Conservative	Danielle Marie Smith	960	18
	UKIP	Christine Palmer	797	15
	Liberal Democrats	Brenda Hammond	295	6
Majority
Turnout			5,258	69.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Kemsley (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Susan Ann Gent	1,118	25
	Conservative	Mike Dendor	1,031	23
	UKIP	Derek William Carnell	952	22
	Labour	Andy Cooper	561	13
	Labour	Libby McCusker	556	13
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Zeng	194	4
Majority
Turnout			4,412	61.9
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Milton Regis (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Roger Gordon Clark	993	27
	UKIP	Katy Coleman	849	23
	Labour	Adam Tolhurst	845	23
	Labour	Tony Winckless	754	20
	Liberal Democrats	David Spurling	252	7
Majority
Turnout			3,693	59.6
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	UKIP gain from Labour		Swing

Minster Cliffs (3 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	UKIP	Adrian Crowther	1,552	23
	Conservative	Andy Booth	1,528	23
	Conservative	Ken Pugh	1,479	22
	Conservative	Heather Thomas-Pugh	1,217	18
	Labour	Libby Tucker	864	13
Majority
Turnout			6,640	65.8
	UKIP gain from Conservative		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Murston (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Samuel Koffie-Williams	892	28
	UKIP	James Hall	876	28
	Labour	Ken Rowles	621	20
	Labour	Paul Wilson	466	15
	Liberal Democrats	Rosemary Madgwick	324	10
Majority
Turnout			3,179	54.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	UKIP gain from Labour		Swing

Priory
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Michael Scott Henderson	610	50
	Conservative	Andrew Culham	356	29
	Labour	Janet Elizabeth Miall	196	16
	Green	Helen Eileen Miller	61	5
Majority
Turnout			1,223	62.5
	Independent hold		Swing

Queenborough and Halfway (3 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	UKIP	Richard Darby	1,511	25
	Conservative	Cameron Beart	1,230	20
	Conservative	Peter Marchington	1,115	18
	Labour	Mick Cole	810	13
	Labour	Rikki Cole	671	11
	Labour	Terry Purvis	518	8
	Independent	Eddie Johnson	258	4
Majority
Turnout			6,113	62.9
	UKIP gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Roman (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Sarah Aldridge	1,211	26
	UKIP	Paul Fleming	1,008	21
	Labour	Georgie Jessiman	964	20
	Conservative	Dawn Louise Gale	784	17
	Labour	Martin McCusker	740	16
Majority
Turnout			4,707	61.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	UKIP gain from Labour		Swing

Sheerness (3 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	UKIP	Mick Galvin	1,562	22
	Labour	Angela Harrison	1,315	18
	Labour	Mark Ellen	1,149	16
	Labour	Steve Worrall	1,106	15
	Conservative	John Dewey	1,054	15
	Conservative	Andrew James Scott	742	10
	Liberal Democrats	David Kemp	278	4
Majority
Turnout			7,206	52.1
	UKIP gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Sheppey Central (3 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Tina Booth	1,227	16
	UKIP	June Garrad	1,203	16
	Conservative	Ken Ingleton	1,152	15
	UKIP	David Lloyd Jones	1,108	15
	Conservative	Peter Macdonald	987	13
	Labour	Alan Henley	704	9
	Labour	Pat Wiggins	647	9
	Independent	Elliott Matthew Jayes	251	3
	Monster Raving Loony	Mad Mike Young	230	3
Majority
Turnout			7,509	60.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	UKIP hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Sheppey East (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	UKIP	Padmini Nissanga	1089	32
	Conservative	Lesley Ingham	815	24
	Conservative	Pat Sandle	680	20
	Labour	Mark Tucker	336	10
	Labour	Matt Wheatcroft	273	8
	Independent	Geoff Partis	205	6
Majority
Turnout			3,398	61.3
	UKIP gain from Conservative		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Ann's (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Mike Cosgrove	1096	22
	Conservative	Nigel Kay	879	18
	Labour	Paul Durkin	663	14
	Labour	Carole Hannah Jackson	614	13
	UKIP	Shelley Wilson	451	9
	Green	Gavin Alastair Eugene McGregor	327	7
	Independent	Mark Hinton	318	7
	Independent	Paul John Cumberland	305	6
	Green	Juman Simaan	223	5
Majority
Turnout			4,876	68.7
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Teynham and Lynsted (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Lloyd Bowen	1,680	40
	Conservative	Mike Whiting	990	23
	UKIP	Trevor Howard Fentiman	878	21
	Labour	Philip Dangerfield	691	16
Majority
Turnout			4,239	68.5
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

The Meads
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	James Christopher Hunt	722	54
	UKIP	Matthew Palmer	354	26
	Labour	Karen Watson	267	20
Majority
Turnout			1,343	64.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Watling Ward (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Simmons	1307	23
	Conservative	Ted Wilcox	1260	22
	UKIP	Warren George Wilson	1119	20
	Labour	Catherine Read	806	14
	Labour	Anna Hefferon	707	12
	Green	Viv Moore	486	9
Majority
Turnout			5,685	74.2
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Downs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Monique Bonney	838	51
	Conservative	Keith Ferrin	807	49
Majority
Turnout			1,645	78.7
	Independent hold		Swing

Woodstock Ward (2 Seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Derek Conway	1604	27
	Conservative	George Samuel	1238	21
	UKIP	Lee Burgess	762	13
	UKIP	Ian Davison	692	12
	Labour	James Beer	473	8
	Labour	Shelley Cheesman	458	8
	Liberal Democrats	Ann McLean	332	6
	Independent	Sue Senior	184	3
	Independent	Allyson Spicer	152	3
Majority
Turnout			5,895	74.7
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

By-elections between 2015 and 2019

Milton Regis

A by-election was held in Milton Regis on 3 August 2017 after the death of UKIP councillor Katy Coleman.^[2] The seat was gained for Labour by former councillor Tony Winckless with a majority of 318 votes over Conservative candidate Kane Roy Blackwell.

Milton Regis by-election 3 August 2017
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Tony Winckless	573	53.7
	Conservative	Kane Roy Blackwell	255	23.9
	UKIP	Richard Frank Palmer	151	14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Clark	86	8.0
Majority			318	29.8
Turnout			1,066	23.4
	Labour gain from UKIP		Swing

Sheppey East

A by-election was held in Sheppey East on 3 May 2018 after the resignation of Conservative councillor Lesley Ingham. The seat was held for the Conservatives by Lynd Ernest Taylor with a majority of 184 votes over Labour candidate Gill Smith.

Sheppey East by-election 3 May 2018
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Lynd Ernest Taylor	522	46.5
	Labour	Gillian Barbara Smith	338	30.1
	UKIP	Sunatha Nissanga	235	20.9
	Liberal Democrats	Marc Justin Wilson	23	2.0
Majority			184	16.4
Turnout			1,121	26.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Changes between 2015 and 2019

UKIP councillor Katy Coleman (Milton Regis) died suddenly on 30 May 2017.^[3] At the consequent by-election on 3 August 2017 Labour gained the seat. New councillor Tony Winckless.

Conservative councillor Lesley Ingham (Sheppey East) resigned her seat in March 2018.^[4] At the consequent by-election on 3 May 2018 the Conservatives held the seat. New councillor Lynd Taylor.

In April 2018, all 8 remaining UKIP councillors chose to sit as 'The Swale Group'.^[5] This was reduced by one on the 7 April 2019 when former UKIP councillor Padmini Nissanga (Sheppey East) was expelled from The Swale Group following accusations of racism and now sits as an Independent ^[6]

References

^ "Upcoming elections & referendums". The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
^ Jeffery, Poppy (4 August 2017). "Labour gains seat on council". Kent Online. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
^ "'Positive and caring' councillor dies aged 45". Kent Online. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
^ "They break ties in Ockendon | LocalCouncils.co.uk". localcouncils.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
^ "Your Councillors". 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
^ "UKIP councillor's post on remainers 'repugnant' says council leader". BBC News. Retrieved 5 April 2019.

[TEC-1] "Upcoming elections & referendums". The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.

[Milton_Regis-2] Jeffery, Poppy (4 August 2017). "Labour gains seat on council". Kent Online. Retrieved 20 May 2018.

[3] "'Positive and caring' councillor dies aged 45". Kent Online. Retrieved 1 April 2018.

[4] "They break ties in Ockendon | LocalCouncils.co.uk". localcouncils.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2018.

[5] "Your Councillors". 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.

[6] "UKIP councillor's post on remainers 'repugnant' says council leader". BBC News. Retrieved 5 April 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]