Swale Conservative borough councillor defects to UKIP

A Conservative borough councillor in Sheppey has defected to UKIP.

Cllr June Garrad has become "disillusioned" with local politics under the Conservatives and had decided not to stand for re-election. She then spoke to her local UKIP branch and realised that "things didn't have to continue in the way they were".

Local councillors putting their residents before party, without a party line controlling the way we vote, and seeking to win discussions through good arguments rather than simply forcing votes through by use of a party whip.

It is an exciting and democratic approach to local politics that is totally missing at the moment, and has encouraged me to stand again under the Ukip banner.

Cllr Garrad is standing for re-election as a UKIP candidate next month.

Big win in Sheppy Central for UKIP's David Jones

UKIP had a big by-election win yesterday in Swale, taking the Sheppey Central seat off the Conservatives with a big majority.

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
David Jones	UKIP	831	58.3%
Tina Booth	Conservative	324	22.7%
Alan Henley	Labour	240	16.8%
"Mad" Mike Young	Monster Raving Loony	24	1.9%

Conspicuously absent are the Lib Dems who presumably didn't want the embarrassment of losing the battle for last place with the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Swale borough councillors refuse to resign despite moving 150 miles away from their ward

Husband and wife councillors, Jean and Alan Willicombe, have attracted criticism from residents and some of their fellow councillors for refusing the give up their seats on Swale Borough Council after moving 150 miles away from Sittingbourne where they were elected to Lincolnshire.

The Willicombe's claim that they can still represent the interests of the people in Woodstock ward despite having no daily exposure to the problems and needs of the people they were elected to represent and that it would be unfair to make the taxpayer pay for a by-election when the seat is disappearing in 2015 due to boundary changes.

This sort of thing is quite rare but sadly not an isolated occurrence or even the most extreme example. In 2003 a councillor refused to resign after she moved to Bermuda just 3 weeks after being elected to Maidstone Borough Council. In 2010 a Telford & Wrekin borough councillor refused to resign after moving to Spain. A UKIP councillor in London tells us that at least three councillors in Merton have moved out of London but still sit on Merton Council.

This sort of behaviour, whilst legal, is morally wrong and the legislation covering the eligibility of councillors needs to be changed so that the criteria must be met continuously to remain a councillor. All too often the LibLabCon political parties will field candidates that don't want to be councillors and don't intend to stick around for a full term just to keep up the numbers. It deprives residents of effective representation and is just inexcusable.