Month: May 2026

Liberal Democrats Win Big in Council Vote 2026

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The Liberal Democrats remain in charge of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council with an increased majority.

The Lib Dems have won 11 seats: Culverden, Pantiles, Paddock Wood, Park, Rusthall, Southborough (2), Sherwood (2), St John’s and St James’ all went Lib Dem.

There were no victories for either the Greens or Reform.

The Conservative vote share was 24% – ahead of Reform’s 21%. The Lib Dems were clear winners with a 37% share of votes.

Ben Chapelard leader of the Council (pictured below) said voters had rewarded the Lib Dems for delivering on their promises for improving the town centre, planting a tree for every resident and boosting infrastructure in Paddock Wood.

Cranbrook and Rural Tunbridge Wells were held by the Conservatives. Hawkhurst was held by Tunbridge Wells Alliance.

Labour lost 2 seats they had previously held.

David Hayward held onto his seat in Pembury by just 18 votes. David Hayward is from the Independents for Tunbridge Wells party.

Watch interviews with the key people at the count here:
https://youtu.be/j7oznif9zDg

The Conservatives returned to second place in the 2026 vote share across the Tunbridge Wells. Even so, Conservative Daniel Dzenkowski failed to topple the Lib Dems in Pantiles – he blamed the large Reform vote.

Some Lib Dem leaflets during the campaign had said: “The Conservatives are disappearing”. Yet – when adjusted for the double counting of voters in Sherwood and Southborough – and compared with the County vote last year, the Conservative share rose from 22% to 24%, while Reform fell from 23% to 21%.

The Green Party’s Kate Sergeant said: “I do find it quite difficult that we get into this tactical voting argument that it’s about who you vote for to stop someone else…we should be voting about the things we want to happen in our community.”

Reform’s Tunbridge Wells Chair, Rob Grindlay, said: “we are just going to get stronger as time goes on.”

There’s an update on the RVP development, which is to be funded by a big new debt of up to £68 million taken out by the council. Ellen Neville from the Tunbridge Wells Alliance says she thinks not everything is fixed with the planned demolition of the Friendly Societies’ Hall, which currently houses the snooker hall (shown below).

It was the only council vote in Kent, so regional media were at the count in force. The Kent Current blog came up with this interesting insight in their conversation with Martin Brice, who’s the Lib Dem County Councillor for Tunbridge Wells South and Borough Councillor for Culverden.

Martin Brice said: “Today’s result is a complete wipeout for Reform…Linden Kemkaran, the leader of Kent County Council, turned up in Sherwood about an hour before dark on election day. That’s not how you win elections.”

Martin Brice says that elections were not won in the final hours of polling day, arguing: “Almost half of votes cast in local elections are postal votes, and they are cast well before election day.”

Martin Brice continued: “You don’t really win an election during the campaign. What you do during a campaign is you get your voters to turn out and actually vote for you. You win an election in the year before, showing that you are competent, sensible and doing what people want you to do.”

For more subscribe to the Kent Current website.
https://www.kentcurrent.news/

Overall, the Lib Dems now have 25 of the 39 seats on the council, Conservatives have 7, Labour 3, Tunbridge Wells Alliance 3 and Independents for Tunbridge Wells 1. Compared with two years ago, Lib Dems are up 3, Labour down 2 and TW Alliance down 1.

15 seats were being contested this year – of those Lib Dems won 11, Conservatives 2, Tunbridge Wells Alliance 1 and Independents for TW 1.

The vote share above doesn’t take into account double counting of voters in Sherwood and Southborough as there were two vacant seats there.

There was concern among some voters about the Liberal Democrat plan for a the planned £68 million council debt to revamp the shopping centre which includes a “boutique cinema” and demolition of the Victorian Friendly Societies’ Hall, which houses the snooker club. But the issue didn’t appear to impact on voting intentions.

Thirteen of the 14 wards in the Borough went to the polls – the only area not voting was High Brooms, as it is a small ward with just one councillor, currently Labour’s Dianne Hill. Here’s how the seats went:

Cranbrook – Conservative hold
Culverden – Lib Dem mayor David Osborne held his seat
Hawkhurst – TW Alliance retained its seat

Paddock Wood – Lib Dems retained their seat
Pantiles – Local campaigner Daniel Dzenkowski failed to take from Lib Dems
Park – Lib Dem hold

Pembury – Independents for Tunbridge Wells candidate David Hayward retained his seat from Lib Dem challenge by just 18 votes
Rural T Wells – Conservative hold
Rusthall – Labour seat fell to Lib Dems

Sherwood – Lib Dem took both seats. One from Conservative and one from Labour.
Southborough – Lib Dem held both seats.

St James’ – Lib Dem hold
St John’s – Lib Dem hold


South East Water’s Boss Resigns

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The chief executive of South East Water, David Hinton, has resigned from his job after months of criticism of the firm’s failures in Tunbridge Wells.

South East Water said David Hinton (pictured below) had decided to step down but would remain in post “to allow an orderly transition over the summer period”.

The company said: “He feels his position has become an increasing distraction from South East Water’s most important priority, which is to deliver a resilient water supply for its customers.”

The announcement comes just seven days after the Chair of South East Water, Chris Train, resigned.

Jonathan Hawker (pictured below) who’s the Chair of the Tunbridge Wells residents group, Dry Wells Action said: “About time.”

Jonathan Hawker continued: “Dry Wells Action will continue to press SEW for investment in the infrastructure serving our town. Sadly, not enough progress has been made since the January outage. And communication from the company continues to be inadequate.”

Interim Chair of South East Water Lisa Clement said: “The board acknowledges and thanks Dave for his many years of loyal dedication and service to South East Water.”

Cinema Plan is Top Election Issue

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The Liberal Democrat plan to take on a council debt of £68 million to finance town centre development work appears to have turned into the major local election issue for voters who make their choice tomorrow (Thursday 7th).

The Conservative candidate in Sherwood, Christian Atwood, told Southborough News today: “A lot of people are against the proposed cinema ‘Vanity Project 2.0’ – as I’m calling it.”

Sherwood is being targeted by both Reform UK and the Greens as both parties attempt to win their first seats on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.

Christian Atwood of the Conservatives continued: “Honestly I can’t wrap my head around it. You’ve got a council that only has one year left in its existence before we move into a unitary authority. The new cinema is going to be in competition with Trinity and the Knight’s Park cinema. Financially, my mind boggles as to why they thought it up.”

Christian Atwood said on Wednesday that he believed his chances of being re-elected in Sherwood were “tentatively good” and he is “quietly hopeful”. He said: “I’ve not found much support for the Green Party on the doorstep…our feeling is that it is between Conservatives and Reform at the moment.”

Christian Atwood is a sitting councillor and works as a full time chef and so was unavailable for a round of video interviews conducted by Southborough News over the weekend. You can see the arguments of the Green, Reform and Labour candidates in Sherwood here:

During the interview, Oliver Kinkade of Reform said he was definitely against the cinema project. He called it a “huge risk” and asked: “When do these projects ever go well?”

Oliver Kinkade said: “The momentum we’ve got now is massive. I think it will be close for us (in Sherwood).”

Kate Sergeant (pictured below), who’s one of of the Green Party candidates, explained that the Green Party was targeting Sherwood to try to gain its first foothold on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Greens already have strong representation in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells.

Kate Sergeant argued that: “It does look like it could be between Green and Reform.” She said she was “pretty sceptical” about the Lib Dem plans for the cinema and that providing “social housing” might be a better way of investing any council borrowings.

The Labour candidate in Sherwood, Tina Kesterton, was more neutral on the £68 million debt, arguing: “I would want to see the plans, the budget and then make an informed decision.”

Tina Kesterton said she was the best person to serve the people of Sherwood, as she was “a local person with great local knowledge.”

The Liberal Democrats have declined to be interviewed in recent weeks, but the deputy leader of the council, Justine Rutland, set out her case for the redevelopment plans for the Royal Victoria Place shopping centre in this interview recorded at the start of April, which you can watch on this link:
https://youtu.be/C-jPzKdYzzI

The Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, Mike Martin, said recently: “The Liberal Democrats and I were elected with a mandate to revitalise the Tunbridge Wells town centre, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Mike Martin continued: “I’m delighted with the Borough Council’s plans to deliver brand new purpose-built retail, hospitality and leisure units, while also maintaining the town centre’s heritage and historic facade on Camden Road.”

The council have now issued an order to try to prevent the historic Friendly Societies’ Hall (pictured below) from being listed.

The Tunbridge Wells Civic Society has applied for an emergency listing to try to save the Hall from demolition. The Liberal Democrat council scheme involves keeping just the facade of the building, arguing the Hall needs to make way for the new cinema.

Southborough News published a piece on 10th April as opposition to the scheme was voiced from several directions.

David Hayward (pictured below) from the Independents for Tunbridge Wells Party in Pembury called the Lib Dem plans “a ridiculous construct which will place the council in debt and destroy heritage assets.”

David Hayward said: “This proposal is ignoring the whole borough’s needs without proper scrutiny as to whether these plans are value for money.”

And Nick Pope, who is a candidate for the Tunbridge Wells Alliance Party in Park ward, stated his opposition to the cinema plan. He said: “The architects should be given a lower cost brief that keeps the existing buildings, bringing them back into use, and makes Ely Court a much more welcoming space for customers and small businesses.”

In Pantiles ward, the only candidate available for interview was the Conservative Daniel Dzenkowski (pictured below), who stated his opposition to the Cinema scheme and demanded more scrutiny of house building schemes in the south of Tunbridge Wells.

Daniel Dzenkowski said: “I think rather than focus on new big projects, maybe we should focus on the basics and what we have here and what makes the town special.” Watch his interview here: https://youtube.com/shorts/fc2In4uYWb8

In the Southborough and Bidborough ward, there are two seats available but the Labour Party failed to find any party member to stand. So the front runners are the Liberal Democrats who currently hold all 3 seats, with an expected challenge from the Conservatives who came second in 2024 in an area where they’ve traditionally polled strongly.

There is no voting in High Brooms ward, which elects just one councillor, who was voted in two years ago.

The Southborough and Bidborough candidates chasing two seats are:
2 Liberal Democrats (Kimberley Johnson & Ash Shukla),
2 Conservatives (Richard Long & Jack Bradley),
2 Reform UK (Stephen Humphreys & Robert Mayall),
2 Green (Maria Gavin & Iqbal Sidhu),
1 English Democrats (Aaron Brand)

Aaron Brand explained that he was standing for the right wing English Democrats party to “Push the council to celebrate English heritage” and “to make sure any housing built is in keeping with the local area, aesthetically pleasing and is prioritised towards young people. Any social housing should be for people from the area.”

Aaron continued: “I will push back and stop the housing of migrants in the area, as they pose a constant danger, especially towards women and girls. I will make sure the red brick paving is restored and not botched with tarmac, as it is part of our town’s heritage.”

The Liberal Democrats currently hold a overall majority on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council with 21 seats out of 39. Conservatives have 8, Labour 4, Tunbridge Wells Alliance 3 and Independents for Tunbridge Wells one seat. There are 2 vacancies.

Only 15 seats are being contested tomorrow (Thursday) as the system in Tunbridge Wells is that a third of seats are voted on in each year, plus any vacancies. This means that the Liberal Democrats are bound to remain the biggest party, although their absolute grip on decision making could be loosened.

63 candidates are standing in total in the 7th May local elections, with Conservatives, Lib Dems, Reform and Greens each contributing 13 candidates, Labour 6, Tunbridge Wells Alliance 3, Independents for Tunbridge Wells Party 1, plus one Independent & one English Democrats candidate.

These are the individual wards:
Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden: 4 candidates (Reform, Cons, Green, LibDem)
Culverden: 6 candidates (Independent, Cons, Lab, Green, LibDem, Reform)
Hawkhurst, Sandhurst & Benenden: 4 candidates (LibDem, Alliance, Reform, Cons)

Paddock Wood: 4 candidates (Green, LibDem, Reform, Cons)
Pantiles: 5 candidates (Cons, Green, Reform, Lab, LibDem)
Park: 6 candidates (LibDem, Lab, Green, Reform, Alliance, Cons)

Pembury & Capel: 5 candidates (Reform, Independents for Tun Wells, Cons, Green, LibDem)
Rural Tunbridge Wells: 5 candidates (Reform, LibDem, Cons, Lab, Green)
Rusthall & Speldhurst: 6 candidates (Green, Reform, Alliance, Lab, LibDem, Cons)

Sherwood: 9 candidates for 2 seats (Cons 2, Reform 2, Lab, Green 2, LibDem 2)
Southborough & Bidborough: 9 candidates for 2 seats (Cons 2, English Democrats, Green 2, Reform 2, LibDem 2)

For more information on the Cinema issues see:
https://southborough-news.com/2026/04/10/opposition-builds-to-lib-dem-plan-for-68-million-council-debt/

Heritage Group Tries to Save Historic Snooker Hall

Counting of votes will begin at around 10am on Friday morning, with results announced by early afternoon.