Maidstone leader hit with no confidence challenge

Good morning and welcome to your Monday Kent Current. We hope the weekend gave you a moment to breathe, whether you spent it at a school Christmas fair, hiding from one, or trying to remember where you last saw the box of decorations. It’s the time of year Kent feels full of half-finished plans and people comparing how busy they are.

This week begins with a genuinely high-stakes moment in Maidstone, where council leader Stuart Jeffery faces a no confidence vote after months of shifting politics and a by-election result that scrambled the numbers. It’s shaping up to be one of the more unpredictable meetings of the season.

And there’s plenty more in the rest of the briefing, from water being lost in Tunbridge Wells and roadworks U-turns to new development proposals, M&S scouting half the county for new stores, and a few national newspapers rediscovering Kent with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

There’s plenty to catch up on, so settle in.

Catch up

If you missed any of our reporting over the past week, here’s your chance to catch up:

• Lupen Crook is an artist and singer-songwriter, originally from Medway but now residing in Ramsgate. We talk to him about his identities, his time in New York, his mental health struggles, and lots more.
• Could Kent be heading for a bird flu winter? That’s the question we posed last week as cases for this year are running well ahead of last year, with multiple cases and exclusion zones already in place across the county.

Maidstone leader hit with no confidence challenge

Maidstone Borough Council leader Stuart Jeffery faces a vote of no confidence on Wednesday, after the Conservative group tabled a motion accusing him of prioritising “symbolic” projects over the borough’s practical needs.

The motion is the sharpest challenge Jeffery has faced since the Greens took control 18 months ago, but the numbers heading into the meeting remain uncertain.

What’s happening: Conservative group leader Cllr Claudine Russell and Cllr Lottie Parfitt have submitted a motion arguing that Jeffery has increasingly pursued “discretionary initiatives” that do not reflect the concerns of residents.

They point to two recent areas of work: the proposal to pardon people historically convicted as witches, and Maidstone Borough Council’s exploration of “rights of nature” decision-making. They argue that while such topics may have “symbolic or academic interest”, they are not the best use of time or money at a moment of rising pressure on housing, infrastructure and the council’s financial position.

Russell said that her group was united behind the motion. “We want to re-focus the council onto things that benefit our residents as we hurtle towards Local Government Reorganisation.”

What Jeffery says: Jeffery dismissed the motion in a statement to us, calling it “silly posturing by the Tories who are still smarting from losing the council 18 months ago.”

He said his administration was “delivering even more than we promised” and that it was “sad that one small piece of work that the Tories don’t like is used in this way, particularly as we are using the pardon to highlight the historical context of misogyny.”

He has previously defended the council’s work on decarbonising Maidstone House, arguing the building, purchased under Conservative control, must meet future energy standards so that unused floors can continue to be let commercially. On housing supply, he has pointed to the previous administration’s Local Plan and the wider slowdown in national housebuilding.

Jeffery believes he has the numbers to survive the vote.

The background: The political picture in Maidstone has shifted repeatedly over the past year. Three councillors from Jeffery’s group resigned in the summer after sustained pressure over the Heathlands garden village development. Their departure triggered the Lenham, Harrietsham and North Downs by-election in October, where Reform won all three seats with large majorities.

The result ended the narrow Green-Lib Dem-independent coalition that had carried Jeffery’s administration through its first year. It also brought Reform into borough politics for the first time, following its breakthrough at County Hall earlier in the year.

Since then, Jeffery has been running a minority administration supported by the Liberal Democrats and an allied independent councillor, with informal cooperation from Labour and other independents. In an interview with the Kent Current earlier this month, he described the arrangement as “stable” and “strong,” saying “the maths doesn’t work for any other combination across the council”.

What’s driving the tension: The witch-pardon proposal has attracted the most attention, but it is only one part of a broader disagreement about priorities.

Conservatives say the council should be focusing on housing delivery, preparing for potential local government reorganisation and tightening its approach to spending. They highlight the estimated £7m cost of decarbonising Maidstone House as an example of an initiative that needs closer scrutiny.

Jeffery, in contrast, positions his leadership around a mixture of environmental ambition and small, visible improvements in the town. He has highlighted work in Brenchley Gardens, town-centre planting, and upcoming cultural projects as examples of the practical, incremental progress he sees. He also emphasises the importance of cross-party collaboration, citing shared work with the Liberal Democrats, Labour and independents.

That difference, between a focus on long-term ideas and a focus on core services, underpins much of this week’s motion.

Why it matters: The vote comes at a sensitive moment for the borough. Local government reorganisation is edging closer, budgets remain tight, and the housing situation is a frequent point of tension both inside and outside the council chamber.

Leadership stability is likely to be a major factor in how Maidstone navigates the next two years. Even if Jeffery survives, the motion reflects growing pressure as the political landscape becomes more fractured. The chamber now includes a confident Conservative group, a still-influential Liberal Democrat presence, a smaller but determined Green group, a Labour contingent that often backs the administration, and a new Reform bloc that has already altered the tone of debate.

The outcome will determine whether the current alignment continues or whether Maidstone enters another period of political readjustment.

What happens next: The motion will be debated at Wednesday’s full council meeting. A simple majority is enough to pass. If it succeeds, the council would be required to appoint a new leader.

If it fails, the Green-led administration continues, albeit in a chamber where the balance of power remains fluid.

Three big reads

1️⃣ Is Kent the largest local authority in the country? The ever excellent Jonn Elledge tries to answer what sounds like a relatively straightforward question, but discovers the answer is surprisingly complicated.

2️⃣ How the village of Goudhurst defeated a notorious smuggling gang.

3️⃣ Byline Times have been looking at the financial situation Kent County Council finds itself in, and how, despite looking for cuts, the Reform administration will almost certainly have to raise council tax.

In brief

🚰 23,000 customers around Tunbridge Wells are still without water following an issue at a treatment works yesterday.

🚗 Nearly 5,000 fines have been issued by enforcement cameras in Ashford on roads where traffic is prohibited.

🚧 Plans to abandon roadworks around Westgate Tower in Canterbury through the Christmas period have been, er, abandoned.

🏨 68 rooms could be added to a previously approved 90-room hotel for the seafront in Dover.

📽️ A 1930s cinema in Gravesend will be converted into 48 flats.

🛒 M&S are looking for sites to house new food stores in Kent, including Borough Green, Strood, Tonbridge, Ashford, Folkestone, Dover, Canterbury, Whitstable, and Herne Bay.

🚌 Bus company Chalkwell is very upset that the council has closed the toilets used by its drivers in Sittingbourne.

🛢️ British Gas owner Centrica has purchased the liquified natural gas terminal in Grain, Medway, from National Grid for £1.5bn.

📰 The Mirror is very excited about Broadstairs.

😎 The Daily Mail, the well-known arbiters of coolness, has been investigating whether Northdown Road in Margate is actually cool.

💩 Meanwhile, The Daily Express is concerned about the level of dog poo in Thanet.

🏫 The King’s School in Canterbury has a rather stylish new building.

Council matters

Meetings this week:

• Dover: Cabinet meets tonight (Monday) to talk about a new district parking strategy, a neighbourhood development plan for Langdon, and the expansion of Whitfield.
• Maidstone: Full Council meets on Wednesday to discuss efforts to block the conversion of Invicta House in the town to housing, and the aforementioned vote of no confidence in the council leader.
• Tonbridge & Malling: Area 2 Planning Committee will decide on whether to approve 17 new homes in Hadlow on Wednesday, with officers recommending they be given the go-ahead.
• Tunbridge Wells: Planning Committee will get together and decide whether to approve 57 new homes in the centre of Cranbrook on Wednesday.
• Dartford: Cabinet will meet on Thursday to discuss the results of a town centre parking strategy, new housebuilding, and a new medical centre in Greenhithe.
• Swale: Planning Committee will decide on the fate of a new McDonald’s on the A2 at Gate Services on Thursday.
• Tunbridge Wells: Cabinet will meet on Thursday to discuss the borough’s new Local Plan and a lot of financial reports.

New planning applications:

• Folkestone & Hythe: Plans have been submitted for 150 new homes on the former Highview School site in Hythe.
• Gravesham: The former Job Centre in Gravesend could be converted into 37 mostly studio flats under permitted development rights.

Events this week

🐆 Wed 5 Dec - Mark Steel: The Leopard in my House // Multi award-winning, BAFTA-nominated writer and comedian tours new show about his battle with throat cancer. Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury. Tickets £18.

Footnotes

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