Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council elections

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council is the local authority for the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, United Kingdom. The council is elected every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2023, 44 councillors have been elected from 19 wards.^[1]

Council composition

Composition of the council^[2]

Year	Conservative	Liberal Democrats[a]	Labour	Green	Independents & Others	Council control after election
Local government reorganisation; council established (53 seats)
1973	30	8	11	–	4		Conservative
1976	42	4	4	0	3		Conservative
New ward boundaries (52 seats)
1979	40	6	4	0	2		Conservative
1980	37	8	5	0	2		Conservative
1982	36	8	5	0	3		Conservative
1983	36	9	5	0	2		Conservative
1984	35	11	5	0	1		Conservative
1986	33	12	6	0	1		Conservative
1987	30	15	6	0	1		Conservative
1988	32	13	6	0	1		Conservative
New ward boundaries (55 seats)
1991	32	17	6	0	0		Conservative
1995	23	21	11	0	0		No overall control
1999	27	21	7	0	0		No overall control
New ward boundaries (53 seats)
2003	33	13	7	0	0		Conservative
2007	46	7	0	0	0		Conservative
2011	48	4	1	0	0		Conservative
New ward boundaries (53 seats)
2015	48	4	0	0	2		Conservative
2019	39	9	1	2	3[b]		Conservative
New ward boundaries (44 seats)
2023	20	11	3	8	2[c]		No overall control

Council elections

• 1973 Tonbridge and Malling District Council election
• 1976 Tonbridge and Malling District Council election
• 1979 Tonbridge and Malling District Council election (New ward boundaries)^[3]
• 1980 Tonbridge and Malling District Council election
• 1982 Tonbridge and Malling District Council election
• 1983 Tonbridge and Malling District Council election
• 1984 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 1986 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 1987 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 1988 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 1991 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)^[4]
• 1995 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 1999 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 2003 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election (New ward boundaries reduced the number of seats by 2)^[5][6]
• 2007 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 2011 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 2015 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)^[7]
• 2019 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election
• 2023 Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council election (New ward boundaries decreased the number of seats by 10)^[8]

The elections scheduled to take place in 1990 were cancelled due to the council's decision to move to all-out elections in 1991 on new boundaries.^[9]

Results maps

• 
  2003 results map
• 
  2007 results map
• 
  2011 results map
• 
  2015 results map
• 
  2019 results map
• 
  2023 results map

By-election results

1995–99

A by-election was held in East Peckham Ward following the resignation of E. Pries.

East Peckham Ward By-Election 24 July 1997[10]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
	Stephen John Cresswell	Liberal Democrats	357	41.75%	−18.9%
	Keith Stephen Chantler	Conservative Party	337	39.42%	+4.8%
	John Edward Howard	Labour Party	161	18.83%	+18.8%
Total			855	100.00%
Rejected Ballot Papers
Ballot Papers Issued
Registered Electors
Turnout			33.5%
	Liberal Democrats hold

A by-election was held in Cage Green Ward following the resignation of G. Evans.

Cage Green Ward By-Election 7 May 1998[11]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
	Nicolas John Heslop	Conservative Party	827	58.28%	+13.2%
		Labour Party	368	25.93%	−14.5%
		Liberal Democrats	224	15.79%	+1.2%
Total			1,419	100.00%
Rejected Ballot Papers
Ballot Papers Issued
Registered Electors
Turnout			44%
	Conservative hold

1999–03

Wrotham Ward By-Election 4 May 2000[12]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
	Cordelia Emma Julia McCartney	Conservative Party	396	60.46%	+14.4%
		Liberal Democrats	259	39.54%	+39.5%
Total			655	100.00%
Rejected Ballot Papers
Ballot Papers Issued
Registered Electors
Turnout			45.1%
	Conservative hold

Snodland East Ward By-Election 31 January 2002[13]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
	Jeremy Hayes	Labour Party	493	58.48%	+8.4%
		Conservative Party	350	41.52%	+16.4%
Total			843	100.00%
Rejected Ballot Papers
Ballot Papers Issued
Registered Electors
Turnout			27.8%
	Labour hold

2003–07

A by-election was held in Burham, Wouldham & Eccles Ward following the resignation of John Jennings on 23 August 2004.

Burham, Wouldham & Eccles Ward By-Election 14 October 2004[14][15]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
	David Anthony Stuart Davis	Conservative Party	660	58.56%	+13.8%
	Linda O’Halloran	Liberal Democrats	312	27.68%	−16.7%
	Joy Wharton	Labour Party	155	13.75%	+3.0%
Total			1,127	100.00%
Rejected Ballot Papers
Ballot Papers Issued
Registered Electors
Turnout			35%
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats

A by-election was held in Ightham Ward following the death of Geraldine Bowden.

Ightham Ward By-Election 31 August 2006[16][17]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
	Frederick Rodney Dodds Chartres	Conservative Party	352	53.91%	−20.6%
	Rebecca Jane Hunt	Liberal Democrats	301	46.09%	+20.6%
Total			653	100.00%
Rejected Ballot Papers
Ballot Papers Issued
Registered Electors
Turnout			42.46%
	Conservative hold

2007–11

There were no by-elections between May 2007 and May 2011.

2011–15

A by-election was held in West Malling and Leybourne Ward following the death of Mark Worrall on 26 April 2012.

West Malling & Leybourne Ward By-Election 5 July 2012[18][19]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
	Sophie Olivia Shrubsole	Conservative Party	769	48.33%	−3.5%
	Yvonne Mary Smyth	Liberal Democrats	472	29.67%	+9.1%
	Peter Graham Stevens	UK Independence Party	127	7.98%	−4.5%
	Kathleen Maria Garlick	Labour Party	123	7.73%	−7.4%
	Michael Philip Walters	English Democrats	57	3.58%	+3.6%
	Howard Porter	Green Party	43	2.70%	+2.7%
Total			1,591	100.00%
Rejected Ballot Papers			1
Ballot Papers Issued			1,592
Registered Electors			4,572
Turnout			34.82%
	Conservative hold

A by-election was held in Borough Green and Long Mill Ward following the resignation of David Evans in December 2013.

Borough Green & Long Mill Ward By-Election 9 January 2014[20]
Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
	Mike Taylor	Independent	692	38.85	+19.2
	Stuart Keith Murray	Conservative Party	588	33.02	−5.2
	David Leonard Waller	UK Independence Party	349	19.60	+19.6
	Victoria Hayman	Labour Party	84	4.72	−3.4
	Howard Porter	Green Party	68	3.82	+3.8
Total			1,781	100.00%
Rejected Ballot Papers			2
Ballot Papers Issued			1,783
Registered Electors			5,486
Turnout			32.50%
	Independent gain

2015-2019

Trench by-election 8 December 2016^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Georgina Thomas	603	61.2	+17.4
	Labour	Fred Long	204	20.7	+1.1
	UKIP	David Allen	178	18.1	−0.3
Majority			399	40.5
Turnout			985
	Conservative hold		Swing

Aylesford North and Walderslade by-election 4 May 2017^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Des Keers	1,249	71.5	+0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Mandy Morrison	349	20.0	+20.0
	Green	Frances Long	148	8.5	+8.5
Majority			900	51.5
Turnout			1,746
	Conservative hold		Swing

2019-2023

Castle by-election 9 December 2021^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Anna Cope	731	59.3	+36.0
	Conservative	Johurul Islam	454	36.8	−7.4
	Labour	Julian Wilson	48	3.9	−5.0
Majority			277	22.5
Turnout			1,233
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing

Kings Hill by-election 9 December 2021^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dan Harman	740	59.3	+12.2
	Independent	Louis Westlake	316	25.3	+25.3
	Liberal Democrats	Julian Wilson	191	15.3	−3.0
Majority			424	34.0
Turnout			1,247
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Malling and Leybourne by-election 9 December 2021^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Boxall	776	49.6	+17.8
	Conservative	David Thompson	624	39.8	+3.9
	Green	Jordan Mahoney	137	8.7	+8.7
	Labour	Robin Potter	29	1.9	−4.0
Majority			152	9.7
Turnout			1,566
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

2023-2027

Judd by-election 4 July 2024^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stacey Pilgrim	2,051	63.6
	Conservative	Jenny Lewis	787	24.4
	Liberal Democrats	Michelle Fallaize	387	12.0
Majority			1,264	39.2
Turnout			3,225
	Green hold		Swing

Snodland East and Ham Hill by-election 1 May 2025^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Luke Chapman	543	44.0
	Labour	Shaun Loader	346	28.0
	Independent	Nick Watts	195	15.8
	Green	Kim Winterbottom	151	12.2
Majority			197	16.0
Turnout			1,235
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Notes

1. Includes totals for the predecessors of the Liberal Democrats, the Liberal Party and SDP (both of which participated in the Alliance).
2. 3 Independent Alliance (Kent)
3. 2 Independent Alliance (Kent)