If UKIP was a band, it would probably be the type that comfortably fills mid-size venues but hasn't quite reached the point at which it is capable of selling out big stadium tours. There is a sense in which its supporters are a bit like fans who consider they are in on the next big thing but might actually be a bit regretful if it became a mainstream success.

But there's no doubt plenty of people think it is on the cusp of making the crossover from cult band to chart toppers. Its PR people like to talk about a buzz around the party, a bit like A and R men.

A measure of this progress will, of course, be how it fares at the county council elections.

And the leadership has its eye on Kent as somewhere it can create a few ripples. It is fielding 76 candidates out of 84 - a record number and judging by the unbridled spirit of optimism at the launch of its Kent manifesto on Friday night in Gravesend, many think County Hall will have its first elected UKIP county councillors come May 3.

Actually, the event was not so much a manifesto launch (not much was mentioned about Kent at all) as much as a rally designed to raise spirits for the battle ahead.

More than 300 activists and supporters crammed into a hotel room to listen to Nigel Farage deliver a characteristically flamboyant and colourful speech, in which he fired broadsides at all the mainstream parties (Cameron - "no-one will ever believe him again"; Clegg - "hopeless"; Osborne - "hopeless"; Angela Merkel - "more miserable in private than she is in public"; Miliband - "who cares?") and declaimed like a evangelical preacher that the party's time had come.

Say what you like about him, but he certainly knows how to find a key part of the party's anatomy (in the way it was said of Michael Heseltine and the Tories).

One of his quips about his critics was telling: "They're writing me off as a populist now!" because it touched on why the three mainstream parties are so concerned aboout UKIP.  It has successfully exploited the widespread disenchantment with the big parties among voters who think they all look the same and say the same. It is that disaffection that meant second place in the Eastleigh by-election was depicted as a victory.

The forthcoming elections come at a good time for UKIP: mid-term in the life of any government is a bad time to be going to the polls for those in power and UKIP is picking up support from many Tories in the shire counties that disapprove of the party's position on gay marriage and harbour fears over the impact of immigration.

It has certainly leapfrogged the Lib Dems as the preferred repository of the protest vote. More than that, there is the fact that they have a much more organised campaign and activists willing to trudge the streets with leaflets - the kind of foot soldiers every party needs. And it already has councillors in Tunbridge Wells.

So, you can understand why it feels bouyant. I think the issue, however, is that while it could significantly build on its share of the vote across Kent it may end up in second place in lots of areas, just falling short of victory.

Nigel Farage is typically robust in his assessment, saying it would be a major surprise if Kent - his home county - doesn't have UKIP county councillors next month. He won't say but the target areas are Thanet and Tunbridge Wells, with north Kent also in its sights.

When I asked him if he would have a bet on UKIP holding the balance of power at County Hall, he said he would have to look at the odds. But his smile suggested it may be something the party has contemplated as a possibility.

Such a result is the UKIP dream scenario and the Conservatives' nightmare, which accounts for the current jitters in Tory ranks.

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

Among UKIP's candidates is another defecting Tory.  Roger Latchford, who was at one point deputy Conservative leader of Thanet council, has defected and will contest the Birchington and Villages division in Thanet.

Another former Tory, Brian Ransley, once a cabinet member in Tunbridge Wells council until he lost his seat to the Lib Dems, is standing in Tunbridge Wells North.

It is always difficult to extrapolate from the result of a by-election what wider messages the voters have sent to politicians and how they might affect the parties' prospects in other areas.

So, is it possible to draw anything about Kent's political landscape from the outcome of the Eastleigh by-election?

Only in general terms, perhaps - particularly given that this was a seat where there was a two-way fight between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives which really has no parallel in most of the county's parliamentary constituencies.

The Liberal Democrats did not so much gallop to victory as hang on by their fingernails, which against the backdrop of the Chris Huhne affair and the Lord Rennard allegations, was arguably no mean feat.

The Conservatives had a miserable result, losing ground yet again to UKIP in a result that suggested that David Cameron's pledge for an "in-out" referendum on the EU did not help shore up the party's core vote.

That will worry Kent Tories who are very jittery about UKIP and see Nigel Farage's party as more of a threat to their prospects at May's county council election than anyone else. It was interesting to hear Michael Gove cite immigration as one of the "doorstep" issues mentioned by voters during the Eastleigh campaign - that, coupled with voters' concerns over the EU - make UKIP more than just a natural repository for protest votes.

Cameron's dilemma is whether to stick to the centre ground or adopt more right-wing policies to neutralise the UKIP threat.

For evidence closer to home of the potential for UKIP to take votes away from the Conservatives, the result of a by-election in Ashford is telling: UKIP came third in a contest won by Labour (it was a safe seat) but came within two votes of beating the Conservatives to take second place.

On the other hand, Labour should be equally alarmed that Ed Miliband's efforts to depict his party as a "one nation" party appears to have had little resonance with voters.

The phenomenon of Labour's "southern discomfort" is something the party is desperate to resolve: if it cannot attract voters back in the constituencies in Kent that it won during the Blair era, it will not be in a position to form the next government.

Eastleigh was never a seat where Labour had any chance of winning but it will have to ask why, given all the coalition's woes, it did not fare better.

UKIP didn't win but will undoubtedly be happiest at its surge in the polls.

The question now is whether in places like Kent, it can sustain its momentum in a way which means it is regarded by voters as  legitimate part of the political mainstream - and not just somewhere to register a protest against the others.

 

"I want to stop the police being run by politicians” –  Ann Barnes, declaring her plan to stand in the election to be Kent’s first crime commissioner

 

“A wilful waste of money” – Ann Barnes, as chairman of Kent Police Authority on the plans for elected police commissioners, before declaring her candidacy

 

 

"It's my view that the idiot entering the roundabout at speed with one
hand on the steering wheel and the other holding his mobile phone poses
an infinitely greater threat to the public wellbeing than a couple of teenagers sharing a cannabis spliff." 

 

Would-be independent police commissioner candidate Ian Driver.

 

 

 

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

 

“Unacceptable and disturbing” – minister Grant Shapps on the £420,000 pay-out to former Kent county council MD Katherine Kerswell

 

“It will save a fortune in the long run” – KCC leader Cllr Paul Carter on scrapping Katherine Kerswell’s role

 

“I am thrilled to join the civil service” Katherine Kerswell on her new six-figure salaried job in the civil service. A few months after leaving her job at KCC

 

“You have to question the training and development within KCC. It does not produce a good working environment when you see people coming in on a six-month contract and apparently sort things out” – Conservative county councillor Mike Jarvis

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“Why don’t they live within their means, or move down here and see what it’s like to be taxed until they weep? Frankly, we can no longer keep subsiding other people’s spending habits.” Former Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie makes friends in the North by advocating a new “Southern” party for the region

 

“I did receive an invitation but told him I wasn’t going to go.” Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless on reports that he was courted by UKIP funder Stuart Wheeler to switch sides

 

“Helen’s exceptionally demanding job requires her to be in London for most of the week, which is where she lives during that time. Her decision to use her rental allowance in London is therefore understandable and acceptable given her circumstances.” A declaration of loyalty for under-fire Maidstone MP Helen Grant from her party chairman James Peace

 

“She is treating the voters of Maidstone with utter contempt. She is exploiting the system to the maximum and she seems to consider her constituency a complete irrelevance. She should do the right thing and resign” – Becky Matthews, a constituent of Mrs Grant’s

 

 

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

 

“Everybody is gobsmacked that they got themselves into a financial mess and did not realise what the situation was. It is staggering.” Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke on the financially-stricken K College

 

“You cannot just click your fingers and fix it. We need to think big and hold our nerve over the decades.” Transport minister Patrick McCloughlin on criticism of the government’s review of aviation strategy. It won’t report until after the election.

 

 

 

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

 

“Following a cabinet decision, it has been decided not to proceed with the trade mission to the USA as it was not considered the best use of public funds at this time.” – Kent County Council scraps a planned trade mission across the pond

 

“It is a small investment and a real opportunity” – Kent County Council defends the same trade mission to the USA a few weeks earlier.

 

“The structure of Kent commercial services is unnecessarily complex and not fit for purpose, it lacks the appropriate direction and has become untethered from the council.” A leaked confidential report on KCC’s commercial services

 

“Utter madness, irresponsible and ridiculous”. The leader of Kent County Council Cllr Paul Carter on Shepway Council’s plan for a nuclear waste site

 

“Let’s not over-dramatise this.” Paul Carter on the same subject.

 

“Many are in dire need of some TLC”  - Backbench county councillor Mike Harrison raises an important matter of state at a full council meeting. Yes, the apparently poor  condition of the chairs councillors sit on.

 

“It makes us look like the landed gentry” – county councillor Bryan Sweetland (Con) berates the media over its coverage of the expenses of the county council’s chauffeur-driven cars.

 

“Chauffeur-driven” – how KCC’s policy document refers to the authority’s fleet of cars. Five times.

 

“Concurrent strategies and tactics that will facilitate this requirement must be integrated into the broader approach.” A gold-medal winning piece of jargon from Kent County Council’s emergency Olympic plan.

 

  

 

"A momentous moment in the county's history" - KCC education cabinet member Cllr Mike Whiting on the proposals for a new grammar school.

 

  

 

“A number of people have said the Kent test is not fit for purpose and could be improved, specifically because there is a sense you can coach for it and if people are willing to devote money to something, they can get an unfair advantage when it comes to getting a grammar school place." Cllr Mike Whiting announces a review of the 11-plus to make it "tutor proof"

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

“We cannot go around all the institutions of this country, heralding the virtues of direct elections when at the heart of our constitution 825 members are there as a result of some form of patronage.” Thanet South MP Laura Sandys backs reform of the House of Lords

 

 

"The awarding of this prize to the EU brings it into disrepute." UKIP leader Nigel Farage slams the decision to award the EU the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

 

Meanwhile, bears continue to make mess in woods...

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Fred Goodwin has joined traitor Anthony Blunt in the Hall of Infamy wherein languish the handful of once revered people stripped of their gong.

But what has the former Sir Fred the Shred done to deserve a criminal’s fate?

He had hubris - what successful businessman hasn’t? He shredded jobs. Nothing unusual there then.

He wanted to expand his company’s global reach and market share. So what’s strange about that? We criticise local business people for lacking ambition, and preferring a lifestyle enterprise.

By many accounts, he was not the nicest of people. But show me a nice boss and I will show you an under-performing business. Yet he has ex-racing ace and nice bloke Jackie Stewart as a friend who obviously shares a love of life in the – former - fast lane.

So why has Fred been shredded by the Establishment?

One reason only of course, Political symbolism. Somebody had to pay for the crash, for the misery inflicted on so many, for the taxpayer bailout, and frankly, for embarrassing politicians who deserve to be embarrassed.

I’m assuming that Fred did not set out to wreck the economy, to ruin the Royal Bank of Scotland with a takeover too far. With hindsight, military planners would not have asked our troops to go a Bridge Too Far at Arnhem with disastrous consequences. How many generals were demoted and ridiculed after that Dutch debacle?

Did Fred set the level of his own pension pot? It was more likely a remuneration group, Have they been stripped of their honours for living in a false world of astronomical rewards?

Stephen Hester is used to six-figure payouts. That’s what happens in financial services yet their practitioners do not merit the remuneration so out of kilter with rewards for people in equally necessary jobs and craftspeople paid little or nothing beyond their normal salary, wage or fee. Hester and his kind would get nowhere without the support of the humble teller at his local branch.

These bankers may well give away lots to charity and keep employees of Rolls Royce and Lamborghini happy. But the public don’t see that.

Fellow banker Stephen Hester should have had the wit to see the storm that would brew over his bonus. Why didn’t his PR people see it coming and advise appropriately?

Perception in today’s world is reality. He would have earned plaudits for either turning it down or giving it to charity. In the end, he was forced to yield by media and political denigration.

Fred’s public humiliation was symbolic and political and in a fairer world undeserved. Hester’s decision was forced and should have been taken earlier.

Both episodes damage business credibility and, when it is only business that creates the wealth of the country to help the sick, the young, the jobless, the elderly and the disadvantaged, that is an unhappy place for our wealth creators – and there are many in Kent.

In his rags to riches to rags disgrace, Fred is only human, a risk-taker who ultimately got things wrong. That’s what happens to entrepreneurs.

However much we deplore banking greed, he deserves a measure of sympathy rather than the gleeful grins of a crowd cheering a public hanging.

It is far from edifying to hear a politician blame an official for wrongs without any immediate right of reply.

Home Secretary Theresa May went down in my estimation when she publicly criticised Brodie Clark, the UK Border Agency chief, for the failings of his organisation.

It is all too easy in a blame culture environment - as this country and a lot of business is - to pin everything that goes wrong on subordinates.  Local MP Mark Reckless was equally quick to pillory officials.

Politicians – and it’s often the same with bosses - are all too keen to shift blame from themselves to save their own skins.

Mr Clark and his colleagues may have something to answer but they should have been given a right of reply to Mrs May’s tirade. They are an easy target.

It was good to hear Mr Clark come out fighting. And there should be some more fighting talk from him in front of MPs today. Let’s hope that at last we get more truth than political spin.

The UK Border Agency has an impossible task. For a start, this Government has slashed staff numbers to such dire levels that compromise is inevitable. The Public and Commercial Services union, which represents border agency staff, said the service had suffered a 25% cut in budgets over four years.

Yet given the sensitivity of immigration, it should have been protected, just as overseas aid is.

Who can wonder at any attempt to simplify entry procedures.

Who has not left a plane at Gatwick or Heathrow and found thousands queuing in the immigration area? Your heart sinks at the prospect of long delays.

Anyone travelling by coach from Europe has been grateful for quicker procedures. I remember disembarking from a bus, trekking through a building, showing passports and going on our way. On other occasions, a coach has been waved through. There was a sensible assessment of risk.

The truth is that the UK is visited by millions, many through Kent entry points. The Border Agency systems just do not work quickly enough for the majority. The danger is that the handful of people bent on causing trouble hold up the rest - as of course they do when you enter the United States.

Unless the Government invests in more - not fewer - staff, gives the UK Border Agency more money, equips it with better IT systems, and adopts a more co-operative approach to staff, the crisis will continue and lapses will occur.

If border controls are tightened further, catching even more law-abiding folk, the UK will be a turnoff. That may be good for safety, but bad for tourism and business.

Council chiefs and other politicians in Kent and Medway have been swift to condemn the latest proposal for an airport in the Thames Estuary.

Hardly a surprise. Lord Foster's grand scheme is nothing if not ambitious - it brings together not just an airport but a new river barrier and crossing, and a shipping and orbital rail complex. It makes Boris Island look rather modest.

Given the scale and huge impact it would have, the reaction on both sides has been passionate.

Lord Foster's Thames Hub vision>>

It is a classic situation in which local and national interests collide - a bit like the arguments that raged in Kent over the Channel Tunnel, when there were similar clashes over the blight afflicting the green fields of the Garden of England against those arguing the case for the economic dividend for UK Plc, particularly on the jobs front.

(Remember the scorn heaped on the country when it dragged its feet over the construction of the second stage of the High Speed Link? We were derided by our European counterparts for taking so long and for building a link which, at the time, only went some of the way to London.)

So why won't this idea - dubbed pie-in-the-sky, plane-crazy - go away?

If those advocating different proposals took on board the views of many in Kent, they would run away and hide in a dark room, not spend £100,000 on a report, that for all the criticism that might be heaped on it, at least strives to come up with a credible case that integrates different energy and transport strands and doesn't completely overlook the environmental issues.

One reason is that there is something of a policy vacuum in government - which, according to new transport secretary Justine Greening hasn't completely closed the door on the notion of a Thames Estuary airport - and has only recently finished a consultation on its scoping document setting out its plans for a sustainable framework for UK aviation.

Meanwhile, it has cancelled a third runway at Heathrow and ruled out expansion at Gatwick and Stansted. Triggering the inevitable questions about how it intends to increase capacity and compete in the global economy with those countries who appear to be stealing a march on the UK.

As ever, the government is struggling with the competing interests of those who wish to safeguard the environment and those that argue aviation is a vital to our national economic interests. 

And as always, thrown into the mix is the pressure ministers will come under from MPs with marginal seats who will want to side with their constituents. (A taste of this has come the way of ministers trying to sell the idea of High Speed Two, which would also carve through some of the country's rural hinterland. There is open revolt in some Cnservative constituencies).

So, will the government opt for what Foster calls "the short term patching up our ageing infrastructure" or be more bold when it does eventually flesh out its policies?

Somehow, I suspect that even when it does, the arguments will continue to rage.

---

The first of the new guest post feature. Liam Batch, A Level politics student from Kent, writes about the lack of environmental discussion by our political leaders.

 

With issues cropping up in recent years such as the recession, civil unrest in Libya and Egypt, controversy over wiki-leaks and the infamous ash cloud which to their credit, are all topics that cannot be understated in their importance, it appears however that one topic is slowly disappearing away from both the political agenda, and from the headlines.

The state of the environment has been subject to much anxiety and concern in previous years, but has the issue progressed into becoming a fundamental element of Party’s manifesto’s? The subject appears to have noticeably declined in recent months, and for one reason or another, nothing substantial appears to be getting done.

Anthony Downs once created a ‘five stage model’ in which he outlines the five stages in which public interest gains and loses mobility in the event of a monumental crises. Number four of the cycle is the ‘gradual decline of intense public interest’ which has substantial resonance to the situation we face today. With the complexity and cost attached to this environmental disaster we face, public interest has inevitably plummeted and progress is racing along at a snail’s pace. One possible answer is the style of politics within the UK which unfortunately sees politicians focussed on the short term issues which will ultimately win an election, and not the long term goals which will not be completed within a five year term in Governance. Gone are the days of the selfless politician, they are indisputably a dying breed of few who are here to represent the people, and are not conversely fixated upon getting as far as they can climb up the political ladder, professional politicians as they are often labelled. The competitive nature of British politics has blinkered those we elect away from actually solving the monumental problems of the world, and instead merely doing what is necessary to insure power is sustained.

Last month, the BBC reported that Global Carbon emissions have reached an all time high and were recorded 5% higher than the previous recording in 2008. We are too often manipulated in to believing by Cameron and his cronies that ‘they are doing all they can to preserve the environment’, when in actual fact, it is sitting at the bottom of their agenda. A few weeks before the most recent general election, Conservative party leader David Cameron promised to limit new power plants to be as clean as a modern gas plant. However, shortly after the Election the Guardian reported than ministers were set to raise the amount of emissions that coal and other power plants were allowed to omit more into the atmosphere. How can politicians tell us to act more ecologically, when they are evidently at the height of anthropocentrism? To the Conservatives credit, they have already implemented one of their pre election promises by ensuring every household has access to a ‘green deal’ of up to £6,500 to improve energy efficiency. But is this enough? Is this really sufficient in the grander scheme of things, it is my view simply both a sweetener and an illusion designed to persuade the electorate that they are making substantial efforts to tackle the environmental problems we face.

However, this isn’t just a British problem, but a world problem as repetitively the efforts of many are stamped upon by World leaders at Earth summits where the Governments around the world are too busy weighing up the cost the proposals make to their economy rather than the cost they are causing to the Environment by doing nothing.

With resources scarce, and the Earth showing increasing signs of entropy each and every day, it is vital that Politicians wake up to the idea that action is needed, and needed quickly. It isn’t an issue that will disappear, and if action isn’t taken soon, the damage we are causing will be ultimately irreversible.

 

Pardon the period of exile. This humble blogger has been extremely busy with other personal projects. So, forgive me, I've neglected this blog quite a lot. But, this is significant platform for discussing local issues in Kent – especially those which effect you and I.

After careful consideration, I will be starting a guest feature for this blog. Rules are simple;

1. Must be a resident of Kent.

2. Guest posts needs to be relevant to the nature of this blog (.i.e politics)

3. In line with the blogging T&C's of KentOnline.

4. Needs to be appealing.

5. Word length between 500 – 800 max.

If you would like the opportunity, please e-mail me (daniel at gmail.com)

 

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

 

Anyone staying up for the election count this week will need plenty of caffeine and high energy food. This looks like being a record breaker for the time it takes the counters to sort out who won what and when.

The doors shut at 10pm (by which time some of the polling station staff will be approaching 18 hours non-stop on the job).

Certainly by the time they hand over all the paperwork, the boxes and their secret contents, they will be ready for bed.

Meanwhile, the late shift will be getting settled for a very long night.

I am forecasting a 7am finish by the time the counting of the borough votes will have been completed. That may be optimistic.

This is because the Electoral Commission is insisting that officers have to verify how many people voted in the referendum by 2am. Only once they have accepted that has been done can the voting begin.

Voters will have at least two forms: the grey one will record our views on the referendum while a fetching lilac colour has been chosen for recording borough votes.

They will all be shoved into the same box.

Those places on the peninsula where there is a village ballot for parish councils will have a long wait - and white papers on which to record the council candidates they support. The delay is because counting the handful of votes will not begin before 4pm on Friday evening.

That's also the time when the way the 189,843 residents of Medway vote on whether to keep First Past the Post - or go for alternative votes.

Imagine if all 190,000 people voted (well, that minues 157).

Fortunately for those waiting up, swigging Red Cow, Coffee or whatever other fluid is available to keep their eyes open, more than 100,000 of them are liable to stay away from the 118 polling stations and 445 volunteers waiting to greet them in school rooms, pubs, caravans and assorted other electoral registration points.

From about 5.30am on Friday we plan to have early results up on the web, and to keep updating as they become available.

Then as the counters crawl away for bed (or we reporters head for the news room keyboards, video editing and soundtrack edit machinery) we at least can smirk - and the counters cannot. This is because they will have to start counting the referendum votes at 4pm - and also find time to declare the results in the parish council elections.

Me? I shall be in the Land of Nod, probably croaking a hoarse lament to the early swifts and swallows over Medway.

***

The Liberal Democrats are beginning to panic.

They appealed for help in Gillingham North from supporters as far away as London last weekend.

In a letter to their London colleagues they have written (complete with all the spelling asnd grammatical errors): "The guys down in Gillingham (Medway unitary ) are really doing all of the right things but are stretched. A personal and wrong smear campaign from an ex Lib Dem PPC splitting our vote and letting labour in.

"These re good hard working simple Lib Dems who really need our support.

"The candidates need get on the doorstep to finish their canvass to find more D and P's and soft Torys [sic]to squeeze.

"From Sunday they have 10000 good quality final leaflets for the final weekend and an eve of poll.

"Please come an help deliver freeing Cathy/ Sid and Garry to get on the doorstep.

"They need Team Lib Dem to pile in and help as Labour will be able to use our own personal misfortune to claim a gain in a hard working Lib Dem area.

"please come down when you can starting with our action day tomorrow Sunday

"Also help needed right up to and including election day.

"These are real genuine hard working Lib Dem councillors who have been stitched up by their own ex PPC and need some more dynamic experienced to help them kick away Labour's opptunist challenge.

"regards

"Gillingham North Team"

The message was mailed to us from the Dartford Lib Dems who must either be sure of their own votes - or have given up the ghost.

***

Labour were told a few weeks ago that for them to regain national power they needed to win back Medway. That meant a good return on Thursday.

Where have been their old (or young) warhorses?

Nowhere in Medway.

Meanwhile the Conservatives (who locally love to take as much praise as they can from the government, whichever hue it is sporting, but will criticise anything which does not equate with what their Medway members and supporters think) have only managed one visitor.

Give 'em their due - he was big, young and a champion warhorse well worth his hour in Medway.

George Osborne pawed at the hallowed Priestfield turf, accepted his Number 11 shirt and urged the team to give Chesterfield hell before returning to Downing Street.

Clever coup for a Rainham council candidate, Reh (call me Rehman) Chishti.

***

Oh, and the emergency parish council meeting at Allhallows at 6.45pm tomorrow night is still on!

It could be interesting at the next meeting - for any who survive the vote and for any newcomers who start to explore the rules on decisions in purdah, legal actions, reversing decisions or simply delaying tactics.