2024 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election

2024 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election

2 May 2024 (2024-05-02)
All 39 seats on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council 20 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ben Chapelard Tom Dawlings Hugo Pound Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Labour Leader's seat St James' Benenden & Cranbrook Sherwood Last election 17 seats, 25.3% 11 seats, 29.4% 8 seats, 16.3% Seats before 17 11 7 Seats won 22 7 5 Seat change 5 4 2 Popular vote 28,797 24,673 12,022 Percentage 34.2% 29.3% 14.3% Swing 8.9% 0.1% 2.0%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Nicholas Pope Party Alliance Independent Leader's seat Park (defeated) Last election 9 seats, 18.1% 1 seat, 2.4% Seats before 7 4 Seats won 4 1 Seat change 3 3 Popular vote 7,457 4,977 Percentage 8.8% 5.9% Swing 9.3% 3.5%
Winner of each seat at the 2024 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election
Leader before election Ben Chapelard Liberal Democrat No overall control Leader after election Ben Chapelard Liberal Democrats

The 2024 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2024 to elect members of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in Kent, England.[1] This was on the same day as other local elections.

Following a review of ward boundaries, the election was contested with new electoral divisions and with a reduced number of seats, 39 down from 48.[2]

Summary

The council was under no overall control prior to the election, being run by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, local party the Tunbridge Wells Alliance, and Labour, led by Liberal Democrat councillor Ben Chapelard. The election saw the Liberal Democrats take majority control of the council.[3]

Election result

2024 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council election
Party		Candidates	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	39	22	3	0	5	56.4	34.2	28,797	+8.9
	Conservative	39	7	0	2	4	18.0	29.3	24,673	–0.1
	Labour	25	5	0	0	2	12.8	14.3	12,022	–2.0
	Tunbridge Wells Alliance	10	4	0	1	3	10.3	8.8	7,457	–9.3
	Independent	19	1	0	0	3	2.6	5.9	4,977	+3.5
	Green	18	0	0	0		0.0	6.5	5,485	–1.7
	Reform UK	5	0	0	0		0.0	1.1	906	+0.8

Results

The Statement of Persons Nominated, which details the candidates standing in each ward, was released by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council following the close of nominations on 8 April 2024.[4]

Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden

Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Fairweather*	917	53.1
	Alliance	Nancy Warne*	843	48.8
	Conservative	David Somers	640	37.0
	Conservative	John Austen	547	31.7
	Green	John Hurst	360	20.8
	Labour	Joel Turner	275	15.9
	Liberal Democrats	James Cole	197	11.4
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Moesgaard-Kjeldsen	197	11.4
	Independent	Chris Hoare	155	9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Guinnessy	139	8.0
Turnout			1,736	31.3
Registered electors			5,552
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Alliance win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Culverden

Culverden (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Justine Rutland*	1,184	51.1
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Brice*	1,128	48.6
	Liberal Democrats	David Osborne*	1,070	46.1
	Conservative	Alex Dunn	713	30.7
	Conservative	David Scott	653	28.2
	Conservative	Victoria White*	620	26.7
	Green	Victoria Moll	337	14.5
	Labour	Martin Betts	330	14.2
	Labour	Greg Holder	267	11.5
	Independent	Sam Macdonald Walmsley	166	7.2
Turnout			2,323	37.6
Registered electors			6,182
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Hawkhurst, Sandhurst & Benenden

Hawkhurst, Sandhurst & Benenden (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tom Dawlings*	903	41.1
	Conservative	Beverley Palmer*	846	38.5
	Alliance	Ellen Neville*	809	36.8
	Alliance	Clare Escombe	748	34.1
	Conservative	Martin Taylor-Smith	745	33.9
	Labour	Mia Dahl	309	14.1
	Green	Debs Keech	281	12.8
	Liberal Democrats	Hazel Strouts	267	12.2
	Reform UK	Simon Hilton	248	11.3
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Dawson	228	10.4
	Liberal Democrats	Vivian Widgery	123	5.6
	Independent	Angie Ward	84	3.8
	Independent	Dan Littlechild	82	3.7
Turnout			2,211	34.0
Registered electors			6,497
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Alliance win (new seat)

High Brooms

High Brooms

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dianne Hill*	427	55.9
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Humphreys	130	17.0
	Conservative	Freddie Mobbs	82	10.7
	Reform UK	Rick Williams	61	8.0
	Green	Paul Froome	47	6.2
	Independent	David Kain	17	2.2
Turnout			765	32.4
Registered electors			2,362
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Paddock Wood

Paddock Wood (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Munday*	872	38.8
	Liberal Democrats	Don Kent	850	37.8
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Pitts	849	37.8
	Conservative	Ros Tucker	777	34.6
	Independent	Rodney Atkins*	670	29.8
	Conservative	Nicolas Maari	609	27.1
	Conservative	John Hall	550	24.5
	Independent	Begnat Robichaud	370	16.5
	Green	Trevor Bisdee	340	15.1
	Labour	Isobel Kerrigan	224	10.0
Turnout			2,254	34.4
Registered electors			6,560
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Pantiles

Pantiles (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Johnson*	1,185	47.0
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Hall*	1,179	46.7
	Liberal Democrats	Pamela Wilkinson*	1,011	40.1
	Conservative	James Allen	685	27.2
	Conservative	Zoe Dommett	670	26.6
	Conservative	David Evans	637	25.2
	Green	Penny Peerless	334	13.2
	Labour Co-op	Alan Bullion	333	13.2
	Green	Michael Calvert	265	10.5
	Green	Kate Sergeant	240	9.5
	Reform UK	John Spence	209	8.3
	Independent	Penny Kift	180	7.1
	Independent	Dino Myers-Lamptey	146	5.8
Turnout			2,532	36.9
Registered electors			6,859
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Park

Park (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Matt Lowe	1,240	44.5
	Liberal Democrats	Corinna Keefe	1,076	38.6
	Liberal Democrats	Tara Matthews	1,009	36.2
	Alliance	Nick Pope*	864	31.0
	Conservative	Bob Atwood	747	26.8
	Conservative	Andrew Hobart	712	25.5
	Conservative	Sedat Zorba	689	24.7
	Green	Alasdair Fraser	434	15.6
	Labour	Sue Pound	339	12.2
	Labour	Jack Faulkner	309	11.1
	Reform UK	Michael Jerrom	216	7.7
Turnout			2,793	42.2
Registered electors			6,616
	Liberal Democrats gain from Alliance
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
	Liberal Democrats gain from Alliance

Pembury & Capel

Pembury & Capel (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Patterson*	1,099	40.8
	Liberal Democrats	Astra Birch	1,032	38.3
	Independent	David Hayward*	989	36.7
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Sefton	888	33.0
	Independent	Suzie Wakeman*	807	30.0
	Conservative	Paul Barrington-King*	797	29.6
	Conservative	Paul Roberts*	554	20.6
	Conservative	Vivek Gautam	446	16.6
	Green	Evelien Hurst-Buist	226	8.4
	Labour	Anne Musker	183	6.8
Turnout			2,701	41.5
Registered electors			6,513
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)

Rural Tunbridge Wells

Rural Tunbridge Wells (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lynne Darrah	1,034	37.7
	Conservative	Thomas Mobbs	904	33.0
	Alliance	David Knight*	887	32.3
	Conservative	Jill Andrew	863	31.5
	Alliance	Alison Webster*	786	28.7
	Green	Jenny Fox	532	19.4
	Green	Geoff Mason	439	16.0
	Liberal Democrats	Quentin Rappoport	367	13.4
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Douglass	356	13.0
	Independent	Paul Glazier	331	12.1
	Green	Helen Yeo	329	12.0
	Labour	Kevin Kerrigan	300	10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Gill	275	10.0
	Labour	Andrew Scott	254	9.3
Turnout			2,751	35.1
Registered electors			7,828
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Alliance win (new seat)

Rusthall & Speldhurst

Rusthall & Speldhurst (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jayne Sharratt*	1,004	30.9
	Alliance	Matthew Sankey*	975	30.0
	Labour	Alex Britcher-Allan*	886	27.3
	Alliance	Paul Curry*	828	25.5
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Leach	760	23.4
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Franklin	727	22.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Moreland	697	21.4
	Labour	Phil Wheeler	687	21.1
	Conservative	Harry Allen*	662	20.4
	Conservative	Aaron Brand	612	18.8
	Conservative	James McInroy	597	18.4
	Green	Stephanie Gandon	274	8.4
	Reform UK	Mike Hardy	172	5.3
	Independent	Graham Withers	170	5.2
Turnout			3,257	44.3
Registered electors			7,349
	Labour win (new seat)
	Alliance win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Sherwood

Sherwood (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Pound*	721	39.2
	Labour	Victoria Jones	692	37.6
	Conservative	Christian Atwood	681	37.1
	Conservative	Lynne Weatherly	671	36.5
	Labour	Shadi Rogers*	661	36.0
	Conservative	Richard Harrington	647	35.2
	Green	Sue Lovell	225	12.2
	Liberal Democrats	William Healing	213	11.6
	Independent	Joe Dore	200	10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Marguerita Morton*	188	10.2
	Liberal Democrats	Yvonne Raptis	175	9.5
Turnout			1,844	29.1
Registered electors			6,345
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Conservative hold

Southborough & Bidborough

Southborough & Bidborough (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Ellis*	1,059	35.6
	Liberal Democrats	Brandon Le Page*	1,037	34.8
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Opara*	917	30.8
	Labour	Penny Breedon	800	26.9
	Conservative	Sarah Bridges	795	26.7
	Conservative	Peter Oakford	792	26.6
	Conservative	Alexander Puffette	717	24.1
	Labour	John Francis*	708	23.8
	Labour	Alain Lewis*	683	23.0
	Alliance	Jonathan Farina	347	11.7
	Green	Mark McBennett	275	9.2
	Independent	Len Colangelo	213	7.2
Turnout			2,986	40.7
Registered electors			7,330
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

St. James'

St. James' (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Chapelard*	1,427	66.1
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Wormington*	1,024	47.4
	Liberal Democrats	Courtney Souper	957	44.3
	Green	Maria Gavin	423	19.6
	Labour	Darren Moore	408	18.9
	Alliance	Kit Hawes-Webb	370	17.1
	Labour	Chris Stevenson	357	16.5
	Conservative	Misha Mitchem	255	11.8
	Conservative	Christopher Woodward	246	11.4
	Conservative	Jamie Tucker	243	11.3
	Independent	Colin Nicholson	128	5.9
	Independent	Liberty Richardson	117	5.4
Turnout			2,168	35.8
Registered electors			6,050
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

St. John's

St. John's (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Lidstone*	855	50.4
	Liberal Democrats	Matt Fox	810	47.7
	Labour	Dariel Francis	446	26.3
	Labour	Maura Faulkner	419	24.7
	Conservative	Alexander Lewis-Gray	221	13.0
	Conservative	Rebecca Winter	194	11.4
	Green	Adrian Thorne	124	7.3
	Independent	Fran Colangelo	99	5.8
	Independent	Mark Nicholson	53	3.1
Turnout			1,700	40.4
Registered electors			4,209
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

References

1. "Notice of election". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
2. "Local elections 2024: Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells residents prepare to vote". BBC News. April 9, 2024.
3. Esson, Daniel (3 May 2024). "Liberal Democrats take control of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council at 2024 local election". Kent Online. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
4. "Statement of persons nominated". Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2024.