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 TBD 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. This was on the same day as other local elections.

Following a review of ward boundaries, the election is being contested with new electoral divisions and with a reduced number of seats, 39 down from 48.

Summary

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.

Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden

Cranbrook, Sissinghurst & Frittenden (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andy Fairweather*	917	64.4
	Alliance	Nancy Warne*	843	59.2
	Conservative	David Somers	640	45.0
	Conservative	John Austen	547	38.4
	Green	John Hurst	360	25.3
	Labour	Joel Turner	275	19.3
	Liberal Democrats	James Cole	197	13.8
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Moesgaard-Kjeldsen	197	13.8
	Independent	Chris Hoare	155	10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Guinnessy	139	9.8
Turnout
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	54.9
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Brice*	1,128	52.3
	Liberal Democrats	David Osborne*	1,070	49.6
	Conservative	Alex Dunn	713	33.1
	Conservative	David Scott	653	30.3
	Conservative	Victoria White*	620	28.8
	Green	Victoria Moll	337	15.6
	Labour	Martin Betts	330	15.3
	Labour	Greg Holder	267	12.4
	Independent	Sam Macdonald Walmsley	166	7.7
Turnout
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	47.8
	Conservative	Beverley Palmer*	846	44.7
	Alliance	Ellen Neville*	809	42.8
	Alliance	Clare Escombe	748	39.6
	Conservative	Martin Taylor-Smith	745	39.4
	Labour	Mia Dahl	309	16.3
	Green	Debs Keech	281	14.9
	Liberal Democrats	Hazel Strouts	267	14.1
	Reform UK	Simon Hilton	248	13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Dawson	228	12.1
	Liberal Democrats	Vivian Widgery	123	6.5
	Independent	Angie Ward	84	4.4
	Independent	Dan Littlechild	82	4.3
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			764	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	42.8
	Liberal Democrats	Don Kent	850	41.7
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Pitts	849	41.7
	Conservative	Ros Tucker	777	38.1
	Independent	Rodney Atkins*	670	32.9
	Conservative	Nicolas Maari	609	29.9
	Conservative	John Hall	550	27.0
	Independent	Begnat Robichaud	370	18.2
	Green	Trevor Bisdee	340	16.7
	Labour	Isobel Kerrigan	224	11.0
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	50.3
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Hall*	1,179	50.0
	Liberal Democrats	Pamela Wilkinson*	1,011	42.9
	Conservative	James Allen	685	29.1
	Conservative	Zoe Dommett	670	28.4
	Conservative	David Evans	637	27.0
	Green	Penny Peerless	334	14.2
	Labour Co-op	Alan Bullion	333	14.1
	Green	Michael Calvert	265	11.2
	Green	Kate Sergeant	240	10.2
	Reform UK	John Spence	209	8.9
	Independent	Penny Kift	180	7.6
	Independent	Dino Myers-Lamptey	146	5.2
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	48.7
	Liberal Democrats	Corinna Keefe	1,076	42.3
	Liberal Democrats	Tara Matthews	1,009	39.6
	Alliance	Nick Pope*	864	33.9
	Conservative	Bob Atwood	747	29.4
	Conservative	Andrew Hobart	712	28.0
	Conservative	Sedat Zorba	689	27.1
	Green	Alasdair Fraser	434	17.1
	Labour	Sue Pound	339	13.3
	Labour	Jack Faulkner	309	12.1
	Reform UK	Michael Jerrom	216	8.5
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	47.0
	Liberal Democrats	Astra Birch	1,032	44.1
	Independent	David Hayward*	989	42.3
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Sefton	888	37.9
	Independent	Suzie Wakeman*	807	34.5
	Conservative	Paul Barrington-King*	797	34.1
	Conservative	Paul Roberts*	554	23.7
	Conservative	Vivek Gautam	446	19.1
	Green	Evelien Hurst-Buist	226	9.7
	Labour	Anne Musker	183	7.8
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	40.5
	Conservative	Thomas Mobbs	904	35.4
	Alliance	David Knight*	887	34.8
	Conservative	Jill Andrew	863	33.8
	Alliance	Alison Webster*	786	30.8
	Green	Jenny Fox	532	20.8
	Green	Geoff Mason	439	17.2
	Liberal Democrats	Quentin Rappoport	367	14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Douglass	356	13.9
	Independent	Paul Glazier	331	13.0
	Green	Helen Yeo	329	12.9
	Labour	Kevin Kerrigan	300	11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Gill	275	10.8
	Labour	Andrew Scott	254	10.0
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	33.3
	Alliance	Matthew Sankey*	975	32.3
	Labour	Alex Britcher-Allan*	886	29.4
	Alliance	Paul Curry*	828	27.4
	Liberal Democrats	Rebecca Leach	760	25.2
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Franklin	727	24.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Moreland	697	23.1
	Labour	Phil Wheeler	687	22.8
	Conservative	Harry Allen*	662	21.9
	Conservative	Aaron Brand	612	20.3
	Conservative	James McInroy	597	19.8
	Green	Stephanie Gandon	274	9.1
	Reform UK	Mike Hardy	172	5.7
	Independent	Graham Withers	170	5.6
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	42.6
	Labour	Victoria Jones	692	40.9
	Conservative	Christian Atwood	681	40.3
	Conservative	Lynne Weatherly	671	39.7
	Labour	Shadi Rogers*	661	39.1
	Conservative	Richard Harrington	647	38.3
	Green	Sue Lovell	225	13.3
	Liberal Democrats	William Healing	213	12.6
	Independent	Joe Dore	200	11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Marguerita Morton*	188	11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Yvonne Raptis	175	10.3
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	38.1
	Liberal Democrats	Brandon Le Page*	1,037	37.3
	Liberal Democrats	Joe Opara*	917	33.0
	Labour	Penny Breedon	800	28.8
	Conservative	Sarah Bridges	795	28.6
	Conservative	Peter Oakford	792	28.5
	Conservative	Alexander Puffette	717	25.8
	Labour	John Francis*	708	25.5
	Labour	Alain Lewis*	683	24.6
	Alliance	Jonathan Farina	347	12.5
	Green	Mark McBennett	275	9.9
	Independent	Len Colangelo	213	7.7
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	71.9
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Wormington*	1,024	51.6
	Liberal Democrats	Courtney Souper	957	48.2
	Green	Maria Gavin	423	21.3
	Labour	Darren Moore	408	20.6
	Alliance	Kit Hawes-Webb	370	18.6
	Labour	Chris Stevenson	357	18.0
	Conservative	Misha Mitchem	255	12.8
	Conservative	Christopher Woodward	246	12.4
	Conservative	Jamie Tucker	243	12.2
	Independent	Colin Nicholson	128	6.4
	Independent	Liberty Richardson	117	5.9
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	53.1
	Liberal Democrats	Matt Fox	810	50.3
	Labour	Dariel Francis	446	27.7
	Labour	Maura Faulkner	419	26.0
	Conservative	Alexander Lewis-Gray	221	13.7
	Conservative	Rebecca Winter	194	12.0
	Green	Adrian Thorne	124	7.7
	Independent	Fran Colangelo	99	6.1
	Independent	Mark Nicholson	53	3.3
Registered electors			4,209
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold