Conventional wisdom has it that elections are lost rather than won. In the case of the race to become the county's first elected police commissioner, it was a case of both.

Ann Barnes, an independent, deftly exploited the public unease that there was something wrong about the idea of having a party politician in charge of policing - even in a strategic role - and exploited it for all it was worth. She was aided by the fact that the issue of policing independence was also dominating campaigns elsewhere and media coverage duly reflected that. It is worth noting that she was not the only independent voted in on Friday - five others were, too.

The campaign never really got into the issues that it probably ought to have been about - which candidate had the best and most credible manifesto for cutting crime and making our towns and villages safer.

To the extent that it did, all six candidates pretty much said the same thing - more visible policing, a crackdown on drug dealers, better value for money etc - leaving voters, already perplexed at the whole concept, wondering just what the difference was between them in any case.

For the Conservative team in Kent - who I am told knew on Thursday they had lost and had tipped off Central Office to tell them so - the frustration was that they were seen as the party that was responsible for "politicising" the police and were tainted by association, no matter how many times Craig Mackinlay, who deserves credit for accepting defeat graciously,  declared he was his own man.

Still, it was a bitter defeat for the Conservatives, who tried unsuccessfully to portray Ann Barnes as a Liberal Democrat in disguise and actually fought a reasonably solid and clear campaign.

But they knew that even among their own supporters, there was disquiet about the idea and plenty chose not to vote or if they did, either backed Ann Barnes or chose her as their second candidate - or simply stayed at home.

Ann Barnes' campaign worked because it struck a chord with people and that chord kept playing throughout the entire campaign. It was a simple, coherent message and she was even able to avoid too much focus on the fact that she had, as chairman of the police authority, spoken out against the whole idea.

Of course, winning the election is one thing. She now has the arguably much more important job of implementing her crime plan and dealing with the shrinking police budget. Overshadowing that is the story of the arrests of five officers facing accusations of manipulating crime figures.

It will not be easy and as a candidate who has vowed not to countenance more cuts to the budget, she may face some awkward decisions. One of the problems with commissioners is that they will be balancing want against need in a much more direct fashion than the appointed police authorities.

And it would be naive to expect any commissioner not to have one eye on their popularity with the public as their term of office gets underway. They know, even if they are independent, that come the next election, they will be judged on results and whether crime has been cut.

The debate about politicising the police will no longer have quite the resonance it did this time round.

Like it or not, Ann Barnes will be just as much a political figure as anyone who comes from a mainstream party political background.

The vultures are circling; the press is the enemy within. I will not regurgitate the allegations about the News of the World or the rumours surrounding other newspapers, this has been recycled for the last 72 hours; nor will articulate the political fallout – both David Cameron and Ed Miliband hired former News International employees (both have allegations about them). And Labour and Tories were both guests at a recent dinner party, hosted by Murdoch.

Instead, I wish to raise one point. The press in general. Limited reports are suggesting ordinary journalists are witnessing hostility from the public. Andrew Gilligan noted a wave of e-mails, criticising his work and abilities as a journalists, something he has never witnessed. According to Mr Gilligan he is not the only journalist to experience this.

McCarthyism-esque inquiries will damage our reputation as a democracy – a free press is fundamental to holding the government to account. Regulation on their abilities to conduct investigation journalism would be a disaster for Britain. Yes, the hacking scandal was immoral, but it was a failure of the criminal justice system. It was the Metropolitan Police which warned against a public inquiry and turned a blind eye to criminality at a variety of news papers.

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. You might find the press irritating. But as Edmund Burke elegantly pointed out, the press are the fourth estate and the true guardians of liberty.

I have been attending counts at elections since 1964.

Normally candidates get to bed just as the sun's rays are bursting over the eastern horizon, lulled by the dawn chorus. Not this time.

At 9am, the last result was finally declared after two recounts, after 11 hours of most local government counters twiddling their thumbs. 

The count was held up until 6am by some civil servant wanting to validate the AV referendum figures for the region. Every polling station was supposed to sit still and wait - and wait - and ......

It was the most ridiculous delay of the democratic process I have ever experienced.

What was even more ridicidulous was that the ward counts had taken place (otherwise we would probably still have been in Medway Park tonight!). Eventually Neil Davies, the Returning Officer and Chief executive of Medway Council, announced he had been given permission to tell the candidates the results - but not the people who had counted... and not the media (representing the general public, the voters if you prefer, 3waiting there to pass on the news to the world at large).

Ofcourse immediately he had given out the "confidential informal announcement" those sworn to secrecy told the rest of us.

Ridiculous? You bet.

***

Politicians are gathering in their private hideholes this weekend, trying to fathom out what happened to their campaigns in Medway.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had expected a kicking from the electorate. Instead, there was the shock of increased personal votes and an increase in members among the Tories - and virtual annihilation for the LibDems.

Labour, by comparison, finally got Adam Price back in the chamber after years in isolation.

Rodney Chambers, leader of the Conservative Group and currently Leader of the Council, became increasingly cock-a-hoop during the night.

By comparison, Geoff Juby's bright yellow jacket and tie covered in playing card images began to look sicker and sicker as he walked from table to table.

One or two people were vitriolic. No more so than in Watling Ward where Tory and LibDem ladies will be side by side.for the next four years.

The comment that "I want to work with her…" never sounded less truthful.

***

It was a damned close run thing in Allhallows where the old brigade narrowly lost out to those seeking a more open parish council.

The results were declared with three of the Old Brigade (led by the current chairman, Yvonne Forrest) and five of the "Change Brigade".

One of those to lose hisplace was Peter Apostel, the quiet voice of reason on the council, who had tried to bring sense and sensibility to the often ludicrous behaviour in the village hall. Dibley? - eat your heart out.

It meant the likely end of Cross Park Association influence. Three of the association's committee left the council.

It also promises to be an interesting few months for the clerk, for the borough council's legal officers and for the new chairman.

For example, how will the chairman unite the council?

Is there a fly with a video camera who could oversee the discussions with the clerk?

And will the promised training to be given by the borough council actually result in all in the parish council to attend?

That has been the biggest problem at Allhallows: a failure to know what the rules are under which the parish council, its members and paid officers, operate.

***

Well, the votes are in and counted. Kent has voted, it seems the turnout is up, and there has been a few changes. Predictably, the Liberal Democrat vote has capitulated in places (most notably Canterbury) and Labour has made gains.

Gravesham is a council Labour are championing this morning with a spectacular win, with Ed Miliband claiming ('the result proves' theory) his party 'are on the come back'. Alas, though; Dartford, Shepway and Medway have seen Labour fail to make any real gains; seats that were on the Labour target list. Conservatives have either maintained control or increased their representation. Thanet has fallen to No Overall Control (NOC), which is disappointing after Harriet Harmen and others visited this week. Labour failed to make, well, easy gains that they were expected to achieve.

Ed Miliband is touring the county and marching through the towns like a victorious Caesar, but it is covering up a modest night for Labour. And that is being kind. The infamous '+1,000 councillors easy' claim has proved to be false. The anti-cut message is not adequate due to Tory gains across the council. Cameron is the true winner in Kent.

More worrying, the Liberal Democrat vote did not move to Labour – it shows signs of the Tories benefiting. Canterbury, for example, has seen the Tories increase their councillors to over 30 with Labour (again) have no genuine presence on the council. Only 3 councillors.

Kent is still blue, and strongly blue, with a few spots of red and yellow.

note: Liberal Democrat leader at Canterbury City Council had this to say on twitter;

@ AlexCanterbury It was like sending your batsmen to the crease only for them to find their bats had been broken by the team captain #libdems

There is a golden opportunity to hear what the front runners have to say about the election issues tonight.

There is also a pretty good chance that the minor parties, the CCTV banners and the Get Rid of Everyone brigade will get a look-in, throwing in questions to try to unsettle the big boys.

I am talking about the Medway Messenger's hustings which are being held at 7pm tonight in the Pilkington Building at the Universities At Medway campus.

On the top table - ready to field the quizzers - will be the group leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat groups, Rodney Chambers, Paul Godwin and Geoff Juby, together with the Green candidate, Trish Marchant.

Holding the chairman's gavel will be fellow blogger, Paul Francis, Political Editor of the KM Group and the only reporter to be Kent Journalist of the Year on three occasions.

We have already had some excellent questions, but the real excitement will come from the questions on the night.

So come along - ask your questions - or just listen as the sparks fly.

***

One of my colleagues discovered that not every candidate is necessarily enthusiastic about winning.

I do not intend to give the self-appointed foul-mouthed individual publicity, but suffice it to say he didn't care whether or not he won a seat, and if the electorate is foolish enough to put him in a position of responsible power he was unlikely to attend council meetings.

So, Mr Prospective Candidate, why bother participating in the first case?

***

The saga of the parishes continues unabated.

Allhallows has called an emergency meeting tomorrow night in a bid to fix the lease on the Brimp before the election next week while High Halstow joined the list of parishes which have avoided an election.

***

New buses are coming to Medway.

Five completely unique singledeckers have been ordered for the 116 route between Hempstead, Rainham and Chatham.

This is becoming the Arriva service to serve the new higher and further educational establishments in Gillingham and Chatham Maritime.

A temporary principal has been appointed at the troubled Bishop of Rochester Academy.

A three-day week might be great for some but it presents challenges for us journalists. News doesn't stop and we are still producing the same number papers and pages, web updates and radio bulletins as any 'normal' week. It's an incredible busy time with politics to the fore, a certain marriage, and the climax of the football season with Gillingham giving us fans the usual palpitations.

Gravesend has become an election battleground with Ed Miliband, Baroness Warsi and Ken Livingstone on the stump, as Labour bid to wrest control of Gravesham from the Tories. We're expecting a heavyweight visit today.

In Medway tonight we're gathering the three party group leaders on the council as well as a Green Party candidate to ask the simple question: Who should run Medway? Also joining them on the panel is Professor Tim Luckhurst of the Centre for Journalism at Kent University, which is hosting the hustings meeting. Chaired by our political editor Paul Francis, it takes place at the Pilkington Building at the University's Medway campus in Chatham.

While we'll be concentrating on local issues, the little matter of AV might come up. There's a view that there is widespread ignorance of the system and how it works. Our reporters are putting this to the test today in a major exercise to establish how Medway is likely to vote and do they understand what AV is about.

It's Olympic deadline day for ticket orders tonight and we're asking people have they applied and if so, what have you bid for. Have you taken a punt on being one of the lucky few to watch Usain Bolt defend his 100m title or have you chosen a less mainstream competition like synchronised swimming? It will be interesting to see if the folk of North Kent really take advantage of being on the doorstep of the 2012 games.

Like I said, there's a lot going on ...

THE next stage of the run up to May 5's local elections has just come to an end with the closure of nominations.

Candidates had until midday today to get their nominations in - along with lists of supporters who can vouch for their standing in the community.

The Conservatives were boasting last week that all their candidates in the 22 wards had been cleared of any blemishes (at least their nomination papers were correctly completed).

Labour was less lucky, and still searching for official supporters to complete nomination papers at the weekend.

Papers were handed in this morning - just before the deadline.

Staff were already trying to sort out papers belonging to several of the smaller parties.

Electoral officers are currently checking the entries, but all three major parties are said to have candidates in virtually every ward, there are plenty of independents in the offing and it looks as though the parish councils are about to get a wake-up call with at least two polticial parties - Conservative and Liberal Democrats - putting in nominations on the west bank of the Medway.

***

If the parishes do have an election, it will be the first in Medway since there was a stand-off in High Halstow in 2003, and only the second since the beginning of the 1990s.

The row at Allhallows (which has spilled on to this blog site and the Medway Messenger's web pages) seems to have sparked renewed interest in the principle of democracy. The practice of the same should follow later.

***

One of the names in the borough council hat is that of Dan McDonald, the chief executive of the Medway CItizens Advice bureau.

Mr McDonald had a good airing yesterday on The Politics Programme on BBC-1 sparking a few angry comments from the Liberal Democrats.

Mr McDonald is an interesting character.

He has variously been a Labour Party member and a Lib Dem (he was press officer for their most successful candidate in the 2010 Gneeral Election.

These days Dan is with the Andy Stamp independent group.

Interesting to read recently that when he worked for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in North Devon as a housing manager he was known as Rory.

***

I understand one of the Lib Dem candidates is a fellow with the name Jasmin. The Bosnian barrister pronounces it Yasmin in case there was any doubt.

***

On a more mundane level, I hear Derrick Singleton, the former housing chief who was moved sideways, has now left the council. The sound of the door clanging shut was (I undestand) delberately silenced.

***

Among the many who will not be standing for election next month are the two MPs who have also been councillors, Reh (call me Rehman) Chishti and Mark Reckless. They are going to concentrate their efforts in Westminster.

***

A regular correspondent has taken me to task for having the temerity to suggest that most parish councillors are unelected.

If you don't face the election ballot, and get more votes than someone else, that is not an election. It is a sham, shames the community , and is certainly not a democratic process.

If, as then happens, the rest of the council is selected from "volunteers" that is even more disgraceful. Interviews were held at one peninsula parish council to decide who fitted in with the rest of the council - and who should be excluded. It saved an election. It did nothing for democratic rights.

Elections? - stand up and be counted!

She has consistently topped the polls in Medway for years, but this year threatens to be the annus horribilis for Jane Chitty.

The lady has survived numerous attacks over the years - being a politician seems to attract abuse and sarcasm. Mrs Chitty, however, has always managed to soar above it. With 28 years on the council (or its predecessor where she was mayor) she has had plenty of experience of the highs and lows.

The year 2011 is already the pits for her. It may be the one where she does not survive,. Certainly if she was a cat she has lost several of her nine lives this week  alone.

The portfolio holder for strategic planning, overseas links and a multitude of other responsibilities survived one clever attack on her when a Labour councillor pointed out that she was not living at the home she cited in her 2007 election nomination.

It was investigated by the Standards Committee for Medway who decided there was no case to answer because at the time of the 2007 election she was living 100 metres down the road while a new house was being built. The reason she insisted on using a mobile phone upto the present was because of unpleasant calls to her home at all hours of the day and night. (Even today her address and home phone number are not published on the council's website: her address is given as care of Gun Wharf.)

Then she lost the support of her ward members in what looked suspiciously like a well-planned attack.

Fortunately for her, one of those who won the right to fight for the seat in Strood North - sitting councillor and fellow Cabinet member Les Wicks - moved to Gillingham, resigned from Strood North and has been selected instead to fill a Rainham vacancy. Gillingham's Conservative association is keeping quiet about his selection but it will probably be in Rainham South to succeed the sick Roy Hunter.

Whatever, Cllr Chitty came back from the dead and fought a campaign behind closed doors that got her selection through by two votes.

Mrs Chitty can be intimidating when the mood is on her. She can also be full of fun, flirtatious, boisterous and can converse Navvy-Speak.

This week the Standards Committee met three times to discuss another set of allegations against Mrs Chitty. Bear in mind, investigations by the committee often seem to replicate a treadmill which has rusted to its pivot.

It is alleged the Conservative councillor was bullying and hectoring in the public reception area at Gun Wharf. The alleged victim? -Labour's political officer of the day. It happened in 2009 but there seems to have been a shortage of oil to speed the wheel of investigation. At their third gathering of the week, the committee announced there is a case to answer as far as it is concerned: Mrs Chitty faces a public appearance on that issue.

But it is on her adventures to China that her political standing now really stands - or falls.

It is alleged (and I do not know whether it is true) that Mrs Chitty had behaved in a somewhat undiplomatic way when escorting a large party of school officials, heads, teacher and senior pupils to China. The allegation was not proceeded with, but Mrs C has since returned to China where she is said to have became overly boisterous once more. The Standards Committee is now proceeding to inquire into allegations that suggest spilled chocolate or wine (depending who tells the tale) led to inappropriate suggestions about how it could be removed.

Mrs Chitty has bounced back a number of times in recent years, but it only takes one finding against a councillor for them to be damned.

A great deal of diplomatic language can be used by lawyers when investigations fail to make the story stand up. Considerable political language will be needed from Mrs Chitty if it goes the other way.

There is one way out for any politician facing the Standards Committee. That is not to resign or (as now) not to be elected. If you are not in office, the Standards Committee cannot do anything about it. Anyone who doubts it should ask the parish councillors of Tonbridge and Malling. Several erstwhile colleagues have resigned in the past few years rather than accept a drubbing from that borough's committee..

It never made sense that the councillor who consistently topped the polls with the electors should be ousted by her own party's voters,  but Jane Chitty was removed from the Conservatives' May electoral list by a form of proportional representation - the transferable vote.

It was a curious process from the beginning. It also cost Ken and Janice Bamber their positions, and led to Les Wicks being moved from one ward to another.

Well, Cllr Wicks - the education portfolio holder - apparently said up with that I shall not put, and recently resigned.

He's keeping his cards close to his chest but it would appear that we haven't seen the last of the debonair oldstager and former Cliffe/Cliffe Woods parish councillor.

Meanwhile, his departure created a fresh vacancy in Strood North.

Cllr Chitty - another of Council Leader Rodney Chambers' inner coterie - swept aside her opponents in the new round of voting, and last weekend was selected to stand in the ward she has represented for many years. On the way she apparently topped the poll at each stage of the transferable voting.

Meanwhile the Bambers have been waging their own form of warfare.

Janice is another of Cllr Chambers' cabinet, and has been unwell in recent times. I understand she is waiting for surgery so her days as a councillor may really be limited.

Ken, however, has secured a vacancy as one of the three Conservative Strood South candidates on the voting forms in May.

He's one of the tough guys in the administration. He has wielded the whip with considerable aplomb over the past decade and kept the rank and file under control. It's been so effective that whenever councillors are asked if they have been subjected to whipping they stay silent.

If he gets elected, if the Conservatives hold the majority, and if Cllr Chambers is re-elected as Leader (a position which for the first time will be for a four year appointment) it will be fascinating to see what happens thereafter.

With the Liberals in disarray thanks to ex-member Andy Stamp (incidentally a rerun of many issues that led Cllr Ian Burt and the late Doris Weller to resign from the party many years ago), will we see the Labour group make a resounding bid for power?

I am doubtful, yet it is curious that there are so many rifts among those who have regained national power just a few months ago.

***

It promises to be a boisterous, noisy and possibly unpleasant evening of blood letting on the peninsula tonight.

Allhallows parish council is meeting with plans to discuss the future of the youth club - and in particular where it meets - behind closed doors.

Villagers are up in arms about the plan by the completely unelected, self-perpetuating, oligarchical parish councillors who have re-appointed themselves every four years since the early Nineties.

It promises to be a fun evening!

***

A clearer picture of how Medway Council will close the £23.5 million gap in its budget plans will become clearer this week.

Make sure you get the Medway Messenger on Friday for headlines.

Councillors can get a bit touchy about their allowances and at £1.8m last year, you can understand why KCC 84 members might find the subject of how much it costs the taxpayer a little sensitive.

So, let's give them one cheer for understanding that as they preside over a budget making £95m of savings, they ought to look to themselves to see if they can save the taxpayer a bit of cash. (I'll gloss over the number of times that I've been told by various councillors that much as they'd like to do something, the council is tightly bound by the recommendations of the independent remuneration panel that makes them. They are not and never have been).

Councillors allowances to be cut>>>

Some £200,000 is to be chopped from the budget for members' allowances and various options are being weighed up - including an across-the-board cut for all members.

There will, in any case, be some savings because of the re-organisation underway at County Hall that will see the number of directorates slimmed down and the word is that will mean a smaller cabinet, which at some point will mean a potentially interesting re-shuffle. Currently, each cabinet member gets a special responsibility allowance of £23k on top of a basic allowance of £13k.

But if I was looking at where the axe might fall, it'd be on the number of councillors who have jobs as deputy cabinet members. There are 13 councillors in such posts and they each get £11,837 on top of their basic allowance. If I was in one of these roles - and there are a lot of them - I'd be feeling a little anxious just now.   

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

No surprise that the Conservatives won the by-election for the KCC division of Tonbridge following the death of Godfrey Horne. The result provides KCC with its first mother-daughter team - the winning candidate was Alice Hohler, the daughter of Sarah Hohler, cabinet member for education.

Alice romped home with a healthy majority of 2,013 but it was a grim night for the Lib Dems. Its candidate polled 561 votes against the 3079 the party's two candidates who contested the division in the 2009 election secured and to add to the party's discomfort, got beaten into second place by Labour, who in 2009 were did so poorly, they got beaten by UKIP.

All of which suggests that disaffected Lib Dem supporters are gravitating to Labour while the Conservative vote is holding up reasonably well in its safe territory. So, along with deputy cabinet members, these are anxious times for Liberal Democrats ahead of May's locall elections.