Good evening from tonight’s unusually busy Medway Council meeting. It’s a largely ceremonial one, where we’ll be electing a new mayor. I’ll be live tweeting all of the ‘action’ from 7pm.

Bert doesn’t understand the doors of our new house so he’s shouting at us because we’ve cruelly locked him outside.

I'm in Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall for the only election count in Kent today. One third (13 seats) of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council is up for election, plus two by-elections, giving us 15 seats up for grabs. We're expecting results to come in from around lunchtime.

Very curious to see another independent Kent outlet lifting one of our stories, rewriting it with AI, and publishing it with an anonymous byline.

One of the slightly more absurd council stories we've done in what was already a very competitive field.

The excellent @kentcurrent.news has been doing some more digging into the strange case of the Kent county councillor who’d like a second seat… on Greenwich Council www.kentcurrent.news/alan-cecil-a...

So proud of @rhysdgriffiths.bsky.social and what he's achieved in the first year of @folkestonedispatch.substack.com. Kent needs more hyperlocal journalism like it.

Had a fun time chasing down what I am certain is to become Medway's Elgin Marbles.

Had a fun time chasing down what I am certain is to become Medway's Elgin Marbles.

I see Greggs is receiving a warm welcome in Whitstable.

Somewhere in Camden, Lord Mandelson sadly crosses ‘Political assistant to Medway Labour Group’ off a list headed ‘Possible next jobs’.

I'm here for tonight's full Medway Council meeting. On the agenda: adult social care, civility in politics, borrowing £46m to buy nearly 800 social properties, changes to the petition system, and lots more. Full agenda here: democracy.medway.gov.uk/ieListDocume...

NEW: The Green Party is STILL bad at being green (FREE TO READ) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-green-...

I have seen a lot of NIMBY selfishness in my time, but "my convenience matters more than cancer care" is a new low. Quite seriously tempted to email them and tell them as much.

I have three court hearings to attend in three months. Two subjects of our reporting are suing us. Journalism is threatened by abusive legal threats aimed at silencing reporting. The Government needs to #StopSLAPPs. Please share and write to your MP. manchestermill.co.uk/three-courts...

My full story on the Greens' big by-election win in Cliftonville.

Cliftonville (Kent County Council) result: 🌹 Joanne Bright (Lab) - 557 ⚪ Lucy Gray (Ind) - 68 🌳 Charlie Leys (Con) - 811 ➡️ Marc Rattigan (Ref) - 1767 🔶 Mo Shafaei (LDem) - 63 🟢 Rob Yates (Green) - 2068 Turnout - 37.7% Green GAIN from Reform.

I’m in Thanet for the Cliftonville by-election count, where Reform are defending a county council seat for the first time. Momentum in the weeks running up to today seem to suggest it will be a fight between Reform and the Greens.

Launching @kentcurrent.news was probably the boldest thing I'd done since, well, the launch of @localauthority.news. One year on, it seems to be working. I took the opportunity to take stock of the year and where we are.

Baroque Tom Scott is fast becoming my favourite YouTuber.

Didn't imagine the most clicked link in today's @kentcurrent.news would be to a story on a potato news website, but here we are. Also, it turns out there is a potato news website.

Sad to belatedly hear of the death of Mark Templeton. When starting out as a ‘citizen journalist’ in 2014, Mark kindly granted me access to the press desk at Medway Council and give the same access as the ‘proper’ news orgs. Not exaggerating to say part of where we are now is due to his support.

Another normal day at Authority Media Towers, where the editorial team need to have a discussion about whether a Kent councillor's post is racist in one way or an entirely different way.

Holy shit. I can finally reenter normal life.

Halstead, Knockholt and Badgers Mount (Sevenoaks) by-election result: 🔶 Stephen Maines (Lib Dem) - 266 🌳 Tony Marshall (Con) - 561 ➡️ George Pender (Reform) - 378 🟢 Robert Royston (Green) - 65 Turnout - 45% Con HOLD. @electionmaps.uk

I know this isn't really my fight, but I've been looking at the proposed council reorganisation maps around the country, and the Hampshire one is sending me over the edge. That yellow bit in the middle? South West Hampshire. The massive green area to the south west? Mid Hampshire. Argh.

A good lesson in why letting local people decide how big pots of money should be spent is a bad idea.

"No, why would Medway need more river crossings," I wonder, as I plan my 22 mile, 40 minute journey to somewhere I can literally see from my house.

Good morning from County Hall, where Kent County Council is about to get underway. Not the most exciting agenda today but there is some dispute about whether or not Reform's motion on an 'illegal migration emergency' will be allowed to be debated.

It has taken four (4) days for local Facebook groups in Kent to start being flooded with posts by, for lack of a better term, meningitis truthers. All a government plan to something something profit apparently.

Local media plan out. It’s more honest about collapse in audiences than I’d expected. Cool to see my little project as an example of what can work. But I just wonder if government funding to help boost local news is really for small guys or a bung to corporate owners. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Greenwich Council’s Labour leadership plans to clamp down on scrutiny from the public and opposition councillors in a move branded “an attack on democracy”. greenwichwire.co.uk/2026/03/11/s...

Editing our upcoming @kentcurrent.news interview, which will come out over the weekend, with Kent Restore leader Paul Thomas. Expecting some flak for it, given the discourse on here a little while ago that argued media outlets shouldn't engage with Restore or similar political groups.

Funny how KentOnline never use a quote from someone on a housing waiting list for this sort of thing.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

Hextable (Sevenoaks District Council) result: 🌳 Lee Allen (Con) - 600 ⚪ Jackie Griffiths (Ind) - 108 ➡️ Daniel Kersten (Ref) - 406 🔶 Ashley Wassall (LDem) - 367 🟢 Oliver Young (Grn) - 62 Turnout: 47.15% (weirdly high - 27% in 2023 locals) Con GAIN from Ind @electionmaps.uk

Blimey, it's KentOnline actually calling something racist.

To confirm I was not the farter, and from where I was sitting it sounded like it came from the other side of the chamber. (however I was one of the speakers referred to who made another important contribution emphasising the importance of this budget)

Good evening. I’m here for tonight’s Medway Council budget meeting, where the finances will be set for the current year. I’ll be liveblooting it from 7pm. Join me!

Sorry, what?

Thinking about this far too much this morning, particularly after KentOnline happily wrote up their press release with no further context. On the other hand, we have always engaged with and interviewed council group leaders. Restore now third largest on KCC, so how to approach is a challenge.

The wildest thing about this is that Taylor attended sentencing directly from jail after breaching his bail conditions. One week ago, he turned up at the Kent County Council budget meeting and spoke in the debate, so he's had quite the week.

My Evernote renewal has gone from £79 last year to £155 this year. So, er, can anyone recommend an alternative? Just need somewhere I can dump a ton of notes and files in a ton of different formats.

Kent Current is doing essential journalism that no one else is – strongly recommend subscribing to support them.

Seven KCC councillors have formed a new Restore Britain group at County Hall, giving a national hard-right project a foothold in Kent. We unpack who’s moved, why Reform fractured, and what Restore’s first real test has looked like.

I don't want to say AI is shit, but I just asked ChatGPT to suggest potential Kent interviewees for our publications, and it told me to get in touch with Charles Dickens, Siegfried Sassoon and Geoffrey Chaucer. I think they might be unavailable.

Kent County Council latest: Seven KCC councillors have defected to Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain tonight. They are Paul Thomas, Brian Black, Oliver Bradshaw, Maxine Fothergill, Isabella Kemp, Robert Ford, and Dean Burns. Most had already been kicked out of Reform, with the exception of Burns.

Kent County Council latest: Seven KCC councillors have defected to Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain tonight. They are Paul Thomas, Brian Black, Oliver Bradshaw, Maxine Fothergill, Isabella Kemp, Robert Ford, and Dean Burns. Most had already been kicked out of Reform, with the exception of Burns.

Everything about this is pretty jaw-dropping. The video of the town council being confronted about this live during a meeting is quite something.

Googled Medway and wtf?