Tag: uk-politics

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.

Liberal Democrats Win Tunbridge Wells as Conservatives Hold Tonbridge

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The new MP for Tunbridge Wells is the Liberal Democrat, Mike Martin, who told journalists that an “earthquake” has hit politics after he comfortably defeated the Conservatives by around 10,000 votes. 

The constituency of Tunbridge Wells has been Conservative since it was created in 1974, having been combined with Tonbridge before that.

Tunbridge Wells becomes the Liberal Democrat’s first ever seat in Kent.

Mike Martin crop

Mr Martin (above) said: “We are standing in the aftermath of a political earthquake. Tunbridge Wells has had a Conservative member of parliament for 114 years – but no more.

“This earthquake, epicentre Tunbridge Wells, reverberates across the country.”

Neil Mahapatra came second for the Conservatives.  He had only been selected to run in the seat a month before the election, due to the sudden decision of Greg Clark to step down.

This is the full result from Tunbridge Wells for July 2024 (compared with 2019 result)

   

Votes

Share

Change share

Mike Martin

LibDem

23,661

43.6

15.3

Neil Mahapatra

Con

14,974

27.6

-27.5

John Gager

Reform

6,484

12.0

11.9

Hugo Giles Pound

Labour

6,178

11.4

-3.4

John Hurst

Green

2,344

4.3

4.3

Hassan Kassem

Indep

609

1.1

0.3

This is how the vote in Tunbridge Wells was announced.

Meanwhile, In Tonbridge, the Conservative Tom Tugendhat saw his vote share drop from 65% to 41%, but he still retained a majority of more than 10,000.

Tom Tugendhat told journalists at the count: “I’m very pleased to be able to work with the people of Tonbridge for the coming parliamentary term, and I am really privileged to be doing that. So I am very very grateful for the trust placed in me”.

Tom Tugendhat refused to comment on a possible bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party but continued: “This has been a very very difficult night for the Conservative Party. This has clearly been one of those moments where we really do need to stop and rethink where we are going”. 

Tom Tugendhat concluded: “This is a moment where we have failed to deliver. And sadly, we have quite obviously we’ve lost the trust and confidence of the British public and that is a really big wake up moment.”

There is more reaction from the Lib Dems and Greens in Tonbridge on the West Kent Radio page:

https://www.westkentradio.co.uk/news/election-24/liberal-democrats-take-tunbridge-wells/

This is the full result from Tonbridge in July 2024 (compared with 2019):

   

Votes

Share

Change share

Tom Tugendhat

Con

20,517

40.8

-24.0

Lewis Bailey

Labour

9,351

18.6

3.5

Anna Cope

Green

7,596

15.1

7.2

Teresa Hansford

Reform

7,548

15.0

15.0

John Woollcombe

LibDem

4,234

8.4

-3.9

Tim Shaw

IndAK

926

1.8

1.8

Ian Grattidge

SDP

156

0.3

0.3

Here are the full remarks of the new Lib Dem MP for Tunbridge Wells, Mike Martin, following the count:

“ We are standing in the aftermath of a political earthquake. Tunbridge Wells has had a Conservative Member of Parliament for 114 years, but no more.
And this earthquake – epicentre Tunbridge Wells – reverberates across the country. We look at the results: the Conservative Party have returned their worst result possibly ever. And the Liberal Party have returned their best result in over 100 years.
The people of Tunbridge Wells can help us understand what has happened. For the last two years I have been talking to you on your doorstep and you’ve told me that you want honest, moderate, pragmatic government.You’ve told me you want politicians who solve problems and who serve their country rather than themselves.
There’s a lot for me to live up to in that long list of desires but I pledge to you now that I will do what is right for the country and what is right for you, the people of Tunbridge Wells.
I want to finish by saying we have a difficult decade in front of us. And we have had difficult decades before and we have come out better for them, and we will do so again.”

Labour’s Hugo Pound Bids to be Tunbridge Wells MP

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The Labour Party has launched its General Election campaign in Tunbridge Wells, arguing that its plans to step up house building should include some development of Green Belt land.

Labour’s Parliamentary candidate, Hugo Pound (pictured below) said: “We stopped the sprawl of joining Tunbridge Wells to Pembury in a recent application…so we protected the Green Belt between those conurbations…but there are going to be opportunities to build within the Green Belt that are wholly appropriate and most people will not be fussed by – I believe.”

Hugo

Hugo Pound has been in charge of housing in the Borough council coalition for the past two years. He has lived in Tunbridge Wells for the past 32 years, works as a chartered psychologist and is a former governor of The Judd School and Skinners Kent Academy.

Labour’s plan to impose 20% VAT on fees paid by parents to private schools is aimed at raising new funds for state schools, but the policy may well be unpopular with some Tunbridge Wells voters.

In his recorded interview, Hugo Pound, said that “penalising parents and grandparents for VAT – for me – doesn’t sit comfortably” and he suggested he thought private schools which offered facilities like swimming pools to the community should retain their charitable status and so not pay VAT.

However, since the interview was first released Hugo Pound has said on social media: “My idea of requiring private schools to make their facilities accessible in order to retain their charitable status is a non-starter, apparently; turning on and off charitable status is legally near-impossible which is why it’s not part of the plan!”

He continued: “So I retreat from that position and fall back to the proposal that the only way forward to ensure a better distribution of resource and funding is to charge VAT on private school fees – my worry being that many schools’ facilities will still be inaccessible to all.”

The launch event last Wednesday was held at the Old Auction House and attended by a mix of invited guests – many of whom were not traditional Labour Party supporters.

You can see Hugo Pound’s full interview with local journalist Martin Webber on YouTube:

Hugo Pound said: “Tunbridge Wells deserves a Labour MP. Greg Clark has been here since 2005 and …has done some good things locally, but he does not represent the values of most people who now live in Tunbridge Wells”.

Asked about the challenge to Greg Clark from the Liberal Democrat candidate, Mike Martin, Hugo Pound pointed to some polling estimates from Electoral Calculus that suggested that Labour might currently be in second place to the Conservatives in Tunbridge Wells, although Hugo accepted that this prediction might not have involved actual polling locally.

https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/calcwork23.py?seat=Tunbridge%20Wells

Hugo 3

At the launch event, Hugo Pound, was introduced by his cousin, Stephen Pound (pictured right above), who was Labour MP for Ealing North for 22 years.  Also speaking was Georgina Stewart (above) who said she had voted Conservative all her life, but was now switching to Labour.

Hugo Pound said: “The national mood is that people want a Labour government… and for Tunbridge Wells to have anyone other than a Labour MP would be a huge disappointment, because if you are the MP of the party in Power you..have levers that you can pull, you are definitely involved in the decision making process.  If you are a Conservative or Lib Dem – this time round -you are not going to be.”