Kent Politics Show Special: Election 2024 (02:25-03:29)
Watch back KMTV's live coverage of the UK's 2024 General Election results.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00:00So here we are at the Medway count, where the counting is well underway for the three
00:00:18Medway seats. Joining me here tonight is Councillor Alex Paterson and Councillor Habib Tejan from
00:00:26the Tories and from Labour. I'm going to get to Habib first and I suppose the big question
00:00:32of the night is, this is a catastrophe for you surely, this is end of day stuff, what's
00:00:37gone wrong? Yes, I mean it is a very difficult proceedings but we haven't come to the end
00:00:45yet. We've heard the exit polls, the ballots are still being counted and from all indication
00:00:55it looks as if it's going to be a very long night and a difficult night. I think people
00:01:02have come out in the masses to vote for various reasons. Every incumbency around the globe
00:01:14will be struggling in the election at this time regardless of circumstances and we seem
00:01:22to be in that situation where we are in incumbency, coming in a period where we've had Covid,
00:01:33we've had the war in Europe, we've had the cost of living crisis across the globe. All
00:01:46those things are true but there's been a lot of own goals too, there's been a lot of self-inflicted
00:01:52wounds too, Partygate for example and some of the shenanigans that the party got up to,
00:01:59Liz Truss, the collapse in confidence in our economy. I mean a lot of this is down to you,
00:02:07you brought this on yourself surely? Yes, I mean you're 100% right, there were certain
00:02:16things that went very, very wrong and it happened that shouldn't have happened and we are to
00:02:25be blamed for those. But look everywhere around the world where elections have been taking
00:02:32place, every incumbency is going through some sort of difficulties.
00:02:38Okay, thank you. Alex Patterson, what do you make of that?
00:02:40Well look, to govern is to choose and actually this is a judgment on 14 years of the wrong choices
00:02:47for this country. You can try and dress it up as something that's a response to difficulties like
00:02:54Covid and things that have been faced worldwide and that might be convenient to do but I think
00:03:00this goes much deeper than that and what we're picking up in the doorstep that's underlying that
00:03:05sort of desire for change is what is a change from and 14 years ago in 2010 there were a
00:03:13handful of food banks in this country. It's been the only growth industry under the Conservatives
00:03:20apart from dodgy PPE contracts. Now we're in a situation where instead of serving the most acute
00:03:25need we have people who are in full-time work who are then having to go to a food bank just for the
00:03:31essentials. So I think that's the scale of tragedy for the country since 2014 and I think that that's
00:03:38not something that has happened universally. I think that's something that needs to be owned
00:03:43by the Conservative government and the people who have given the verdict that would appear tonight.
00:03:48Okay, so back here in Medway downstairs they're counting the votes for the three constituencies.
00:03:53It's looking like Labour.
00:03:55Well I'm not privy to any insider information. I'm here as a guest tonight as a local councillor
00:04:01so I've not seen any bundles. I can't tell you any more than what I've heard from the exit poll.
00:04:09Certainly that's an optimistic picture for the Labour Party at the moment so fingers crossed.
00:04:15Habib, some pretty glum faces downstairs from your Tory colleagues. It's gone isn't it?
00:04:21You've lost Medway.
00:04:23No, I mean like we're not going to say we've lost until the last bat has been counted.
00:04:28The count is still going on so let's wait until the result and the Presiding Officer
00:04:35declare the winner of this. But just reflecting on what my dear friend Alex just said, you know.
00:04:44I mean, Alex, look, let's be frank here. When Conservatives came back to power,
00:04:53you said 2040, it was 2010. There was no money left.
00:04:59The thing is it's simply not true, Habib.
00:05:01Let me finish, Alex.
00:05:03Alex, let me finish.
00:05:05You can twist what was a poor taste joke that's something that's been trotted out at every Medway
00:05:11council meeting since 2010. I think you need to get over it because, you know, the truth is
00:05:18the sixth richest economy in the world hasn't run out of money. It was still the sixth richest
00:05:23economy in the world in 2010. So that's a myth. It's a myth that's been propagated.
00:05:28We were an economy which was actually recovering from a genuine international banking crisis.
00:05:34My dear friend, my good friend, my dear friend Alex, look, in 2010 or 2009, you know,
00:05:42we were bailing out the banks where people were left, like myself, got very redundant
00:05:47and left to fend for myself while the banks were being bailed out. I didn't get bailed out.
00:05:51You know, we saw that in COVID when people got looked after with the furlough scheme,
00:05:56with, you know, businesses being helped.
00:05:58But do you know, and you know, so that's the difference.
00:06:02No, no, that's the difference. But what it is, we have a global phenomenon.
00:06:07Just hold on one second. So you're blaming your present-day woes on global phenomena and trends.
00:06:15But that's a contributing factor.
00:06:18Can Alex make exactly the same argument that in 2009, 2010, there was a global financial
00:06:24crash and they had to deal with that?
00:06:26And it was actually a bailout of the bank and left us in hardship, you know,
00:06:31taxpayers were looked after, but where were we?
00:06:34So you're complaining about bailing the banks out?
00:06:37I'm just saying what happened.
00:06:39Are you for that? Are you against it?
00:06:41I'm just saying what happened. We didn't get looked after. I didn't get bailed out.
00:06:47Surely if they hadn't bailed the banks out,
00:06:49the entire financial system would have collapsed and it would have been a Great Depression.
00:06:53There'd be no food banks because no one would have been in a position to contribute to food banks.
00:06:57So you can't have it both ways, Habib.
00:06:59There was genuinely an international, global financial crisis.
00:07:04And the way out of that crisis was being led by the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
00:07:08He showed incredible international leadership at the time.
00:07:12And not only, you know, to characterise it as bailing out of banks, it was protecting savers,
00:07:20people who'd invested their money and saved their money with Norman Rock.
00:07:23I just need to stop you there.
00:07:25We're going to go to Turnbridge where we have Chantal and I believe we have some results.
00:07:29Hiya. So the voter turnout, which was announced a couple of minutes ago,
00:07:37of 72,799 registered voters, 50,478 votes were verified, resulting in a voter turnout of 69.34%.
00:07:48The second stage of counting has started behind me already.
00:07:55And we'll be keeping you updated.
00:07:59OK. Thank you, Chantal in Turnbridge.
00:08:06So Alex, incredible victory tonight by the looks of it.
00:08:10Huge majority. You're probably in power for 10 years, but no one is keen on Starmer or Labour.
00:08:19This is a fluke, isn't it?
00:08:20Surely people just aren't enamoured with him.
00:08:25I really don't know that you can characterise or extrapolate that from a result
00:08:29which would have required a 1997 Tony Blair style swing just to achieve a majority of one seat.
00:08:38If the exit poll is even close to being correct, this is an utterly seismic event,
00:08:44far greater in political significance than 1997.
00:08:49No one was telling Tony Blair that he'd underachieved in getting the result that he did.
00:08:54But this result, if proved to be correct, is on a completely different scale.
00:08:59And actually, people are electing local MPs.
00:09:02In Rochester Institute, they're making a judgment on candidates like Lauren Edwards
00:09:07and Chatham and Aylesford, Trish Osborne.
00:09:10In Gillingham and Rainham, fantastic local champions like Nushar Bahkan.
00:09:13That's actually what people are enthusiastic about.
00:09:16And that's what I'm hearing on the doorstep,
00:09:17is people who understand that they have candidates who understand their area.
00:09:21Habib, you've been on the doorstep for the last six weeks as well.
00:09:24What have you heard?
00:09:26What have people told you?
00:09:27Are they enthusiastic about Labour?
00:09:29Or is it a protest vote?
00:09:31No, I mean, yes.
00:09:32I mean, I think my dear friend Alex is in another world,
00:09:36because I'm not hearing people being...
00:09:38I mean, people don't know what Labour stands for, to be honest with you.
00:09:44I hear them say, look, we just want something different.
00:09:47But not that we want Keir Starmer.
00:09:49Not that we want...
00:09:50And I think, you know, people were voting for reform as well, you know,
00:09:56rather than Labour, in terms of a protest vote.
00:09:59So I don't know where he got that from.
00:10:01I haven't heard anyone on the doorstep mention any of the candidates he just spoke about.
00:10:07You know, they probably don't seem to really know them or know what they stand for.
00:10:12I mean, locally, they haven't been standing up for what matters to people.
00:10:17Job security, you know, things that matter, like protecting the green belt.
00:10:23They haven't been speaking out and fighting for people.
00:10:26They've been very, very quiet on issues that matter to people.
00:10:31So I think this is just a protest.
00:10:33Well, look, after 14 years in government nationally,
00:10:36after 20 years and more in power in Medway up to last May,
00:10:42I think they're pretty clear that the Conservative Party
00:10:44has had as good a chance as it needs to make the changes that it feels it needs to make.
00:10:49It had an 80-seat majority at the last general election.
00:10:52It could have done anything.
00:10:54So you can't talk about protecting the green belt or protecting this or protecting that.
00:10:59If you don't know how to do it,
00:11:01step aside in favour of a government who is prepared to make those decisions
00:11:05and make those difficult choices and actually deliver for the people.
00:11:10OK, so in a matter of hours, Keir Starmer is Prime Minister.
00:11:14What are his number one, two, three priorities?
00:11:19Well, I think, as I say, I think the overall message of change
00:11:23is a necessity in an election campaign, but it covers all sorts of things.
00:11:27It's a change in terms of improving people's prospects.
00:11:31The cost of living is that critical issue for people,
00:11:34the cost of their mortgages and the fact that those people
00:11:37who have no hope of getting onto the property ladder or ever having a mortgage.
00:11:42So that's really important to give young people hope for the future
00:11:47and also to just bring back some decency in politics
00:11:50after a shower of, frankly, you know,
00:11:54reprehensible MPs who have disgraced their office over the past few years.
00:12:00OK, we're going to go now downstairs into the count room where Cameron is waiting for us.
00:12:10Yeah, we're down in the count hall.
00:12:12As you can see, lots gathering around the TVs
00:12:16as those numbers come in from across the country.
00:12:19We've just been given a whole load of numbers here for the Medway count.
00:12:23So excuse me as I read them off our sheet.
00:12:25This is related to the votes cast and the turnout for all of the constituencies.
00:12:30So for Chatham and Aylesford, there's been 40,971 votes cast,
00:12:35which is a turnout of 54.5 per cent.
00:12:38In Gillingham and Raynham, 41,277 votes cast, 56.1 per cent of the turnout there.
00:12:46And finally in Rochester and Shude, 42,733 votes cast.
00:12:52That is a turnout of 57.5 per cent.
00:12:55The returning officer has said what is happening now
00:12:58is the sorting and counting is taking place for Chatham and Aylesford
00:13:03and adjudication will be happening on a rolling basis,
00:13:06but likely for Gillingham and Raynham to be the first one
00:13:10that we are going to get an announcement for.
00:13:13We have heard that it will be around about five o'clock in the morning
00:13:17that we are going to get an announcement.
00:13:20Still no sign of any of the candidates from the leading parties here.
00:13:23Of course, obviously, Raymond Shushty earlier on.
00:13:27We're going to have updates for you when we have,
00:13:29as you can hear behind me, Labour's in a very jubilant mood.
00:13:33There's been lots of cheering.
00:13:34There's even been a happy birthday sing-along going on earlier on.
00:13:38But like I said, those are the numbers related to the turnout and the votes cast
00:13:43and we'll have more update on further announcements later on.
00:13:51OK, thank you, Cameron.
00:13:53Habib, what worries you the most about a Labour government?
00:13:56What worries you most about a Labour government?
00:13:58What worries you most about a Labour government?
00:14:02Like her, I don't know.
00:14:05I mean, I fear for what could happen to our constituents
00:14:13in terms of the taxes that we have to pay.
00:14:18Labour is about taxes, we know that.
00:14:22I fear about, you know, the decision that we have taken today.
00:14:28And it's a very sad day because I know what happened the last time
00:14:34when Labour was in power, when they left office,
00:14:38we were worse off than when they came into power.
00:14:41And I can see that again.
00:14:43And, you know, I mean...
00:14:45OK, if we were to apply the Ronald Reagan test,
00:14:49where you ask people, do you feel better off than you were
00:14:52when the other side came to power,
00:14:54do you think the average person in Britain feels better off
00:14:57than they did when Labour in charge?
00:15:01No, I can't say that.
00:15:03What I will say is we have just came through a very difficult period.
00:15:10Just recently, when they're coming out of COVID,
00:15:14straight back into, you know, a war year in Europe
00:15:18with, you know, the fuel energy crisis and the cost of labour.
00:15:23And we're just coming out of that.
00:15:24So people will not feel better after this.
00:15:27After they said, you know, it takes time.
00:15:29Inflation just only started to roll back just a few weeks ago.
00:15:36So really, no, I wouldn't say, yes, people will, you know,
00:15:40people will not be feeling better.
00:15:41Not now.
00:15:42It takes time for these things to pay dividends.
00:15:46Well, look, you know, Habib is looking back with nostalgia
00:15:49over the last 14 years,
00:15:50but I'm not sure I met very many voters who wouldn't look back
00:15:54and think they'd rather go back to a time under Labour
00:15:57where waiting lists in the NHS were shorter,
00:16:00where the children and grandchildren's class sizes were smaller
00:16:04and they were able to achieve better at school,
00:16:07that people were, you know,
00:16:08just given a greater sense of optimism about the world.
00:16:12And what we have now is just such a pessimistic worldview.
00:16:17And the hope that the Conservatives have
00:16:18is that people have forgotten that things can be any better than this,
00:16:22you know, and to peddle these fibs about taxes from a party
00:16:27which has placed people under the highest burden of taxation
00:16:30in modern history is frankly laughable.
00:16:33Thank you, Alex.
00:16:34OK, we're now going to go over to Gravesham
00:16:36where we have Andrew with some numbers for us.
00:16:38Hi. Counting here in Gravesham is well and truly under way.
00:16:46The turnout figure has been revealed, which is 59.33%,
00:16:52which is down from 64.9% back in 2019,
00:16:58which is, with lots of counts across the country,
00:17:01turnout is slightly down.
00:17:03And it does it quite well.
00:17:06And it does make you wonder,
00:17:09especially when we consider the number of spoilt ballots that we've seen,
00:17:13perhaps people around this part of Kent have lost faith in politics.
00:17:18What we do know is that the final boxes are coming in full of votes
00:17:25and they will be counted perhaps in the next hour.
00:17:28So we should have a result coming through in the next few hours.
00:17:36OK, thank you, Andrew, in Gravesham.
00:17:39An interesting pattern seems to be emerging this evening
00:17:42as all the turnout figures are released.
00:17:45We seem to be looking at an average, I think,
00:17:47between the 15% and 60% mark,
00:17:50which is quite down on what you'd expect a general election to be.
00:17:54Why are people not voting the same sort of numbers they did in 2019?
00:17:59No, I mean, I think the turnout today seems very high.
00:18:03I mean, I'm not sure whether all the ballots have been counted yet.
00:18:06In 2019, I think we had about 67% turnout, yeah, in Medway.
00:18:11Yeah, from what I hear, the totals in Medway are a lot lower than that,
00:18:16over the 50%.
00:18:18I think this is the consequence of years of telling people
00:18:22that their vote doesn't count
00:18:24and that politicians are somehow the problem
00:18:28rather than part of the solution.
00:18:30What we need is not fewer politicians, we need better politicians
00:18:34and we need people to engage with the process.
00:18:36And I think low turnout is always disappointing.
00:18:40And I think it's very strange when people say
00:18:42that they don't care about politics
00:18:44because when it comes to all sorts of issues,
00:18:46from taxes to the NHS to education to the pound in your pocket,
00:18:52politics certainly cares about them.
00:18:54Sure, OK.
00:18:57You're headed for a massive defeat, if the polls are correct.
00:19:03Does Sunek survive?
00:19:05And if he doesn't, who comes next?
00:19:09Look, from what I understand,
00:19:12there hasn't been any decision taken
00:19:15with regards to the leadership within the Conservative Party.
00:19:19From what I understand, Sunek has said he will carry on,
00:19:24have said he will carry on,
00:19:26but, you know, no-one knows.
00:19:27But, I mean, in reality, he's called an election
00:19:30when he didn't have to call it.
00:19:33It's been badly run, the election, by anyone's standards.
00:19:38He's had the worst results imaginable.
00:19:41He can't stay on, surely?
00:19:43I mean, that's, you know, a decision to be...
00:19:47I mean, a leadership debate will come
00:19:49and a leadership process will take its natural course.
00:19:54If you were to bet money, what would you bet happens next?
00:19:58I mean, surely it's going to be that he resigns tomorrow.
00:20:03I don't know. I couldn't bet on tomorrow.
00:20:06You know, maybe he could resign sometime in the future,
00:20:10but, you know, I wouldn't lay a bet on tomorrow.
00:20:13Who comes next?
00:20:14Whatever happens with Sunek,
00:20:15he's not going to be there in five years' time.
00:20:18Who's the next Tory party leader?
00:20:20I'm not sure who will emerge as a leader.
00:20:23I believe, you know, there's lots of talent
00:20:26within the Conservative Party,
00:20:29and there will be, you know,
00:20:32someone who will rise up to be leader whenever that moment...
00:20:36Alex, they're not your tribe,
00:20:37but if you were a betting man,
00:20:39what happens with Sunek and who comes next?
00:20:41Well, I think the losing candidate in a general election
00:20:46almost invariably resigns the next day,
00:20:48with an exception being Neil Kinnock in 1987,
00:20:52when he had clearly made headway.
00:20:54So I think that's a given with a result on this scale.
00:20:58Rishi Sunek is someone who the public never voted for.
00:21:02He was the second choice to Liz Truss,
00:21:05who was absolutely disastrous.
00:21:07And I suppose if I'm being uncharitable,
00:21:10I hope that the Conservative Party is utterly paralysed
00:21:13by a period in opposition
00:21:15where they have no idea
00:21:16whether the lesson to be learned from tonight
00:21:19is what I think the sensible decision would be,
00:21:21which is to realise that elections are won
00:21:24from the centre ground,
00:21:25or whether they take the lesson
00:21:28and the fear that they have shown over the last few years...
00:21:30Who comes next?
00:21:32Well, you know, who's going to be left?
00:21:34We're in a sort of Mad Max scenario here,
00:21:37where it's a question of who will be left
00:21:38in the barren wastelands of North Essex,
00:21:42whether Kenny Badenoch will still be an MP in challenge,
00:21:46or whether Cruella Braverman will be there
00:21:49to try and challenge for the leadership.
00:21:51But, you know, I really do hope that they go down that route,
00:21:54because I think that will be firmly rejected.
00:21:56And I think that that is to fail to learn
00:21:59any of the lessons of not just this election campaign,
00:22:03but the last 14 years.
00:22:05And I wish them a long time in opposition.
00:22:07Okay.
00:22:09Tracey Crouch didn't stand again,
00:22:12so she's out of the picture.
00:22:14But you've got two long-standing Conservative MPs
00:22:18in Raymond Shushti and in Kelly Tolhurst,
00:22:21who, again, if the exit polls are to believe
00:22:24that they're going to lose their seats tonight,
00:22:27what do you say to them?
00:22:28How do you react to these people losing their jobs?
00:22:33I mean, look, you know, the polls,
00:22:36I mean, the exit polls,
00:22:38the only polls that matter is the polls out of here tonight.
00:22:42In a few hours' time, we will know what the polls are,
00:22:44and we'll know whether they lose their job
00:22:46or whether they remain as MP.
00:22:48But they have been,
00:22:51both of them have been outstanding members of Parliament
00:22:54representing our residents, our constituents.
00:23:00Yeah, we're fighting for them.
00:23:02For example, you know,
00:23:04fighting to save jobs at Chatham Docks,
00:23:08you know, when, you know,
00:23:12others have been very quiet
00:23:14when we've got people who live in Midway
00:23:16at risk of losing their livelihoods.
00:23:19And, you know, Labour Party before they were,
00:23:23when they were in opposition,
00:23:25they were screaming from the rooftop
00:23:28that they wanted to save these jobs,
00:23:30you know, and now they are in power.
00:23:34We haven't heard a word.
00:23:36180 degrees U-turn, you know.
00:23:39We, she's disappointing
00:23:41and integrity matters in politics,
00:23:43and I'm sure people will remember that.
00:23:46You know, it may not have an impact now,
00:23:48but in the future,
00:23:50when that becomes a reality,
00:23:52people will remember that.
00:23:54Same question for you, Alex.
00:23:56How would you judge the two of them?
00:23:58Not so well, I would imagine.
00:24:00On a personal level,
00:24:01I have nothing but sympathy for anyone
00:24:02who finds himself in a position of unemployment.
00:24:05That's not a nice place for anyone to be.
00:24:07I think of the three MPs,
00:24:09there's one who conducted herself
00:24:12in office with dignity,
00:24:13someone who I agree with on very little,
00:24:16but you couldn't fault her commitment
00:24:18as a constituency MP.
00:24:20But there's another two MPs,
00:24:21and people can make their own judgment
00:24:23on who I'm talking about here,
00:24:24but Habib sees a different picture from me.
00:24:27What I see is at the sharp end,
00:24:29Labour councillors having to pick up casework
00:24:31that's been dropped by those MPs.
00:24:34Correspondence that I've sent to my local MP
00:24:36as a constituency councillor
00:24:39that has gone unanswered.
00:24:40That's completely unacceptable.
00:24:42So whether that's incompetence or spite,
00:24:44it's a completely unacceptable way
00:24:46to conduct yourself as an MP,
00:24:48and hopefully they will get their just desserts tonight.
00:24:51So Habib, just going back to the doorstep
00:24:54and the campaigns that you've run locally,
00:24:57what was the number one subject
00:24:59that people wanted to talk about
00:25:01when you knocked on their door?
00:25:03I mean, there's definitely several things.
00:25:04I mean, people weren't happy
00:25:06with what went on during COVID,
00:25:11and they mentioned that quite a bit.
00:25:14And people were also concerned
00:25:17about what's happening locally,
00:25:20the deterioration we've seen
00:25:23since the Labour administration took office.
00:25:28In what sense?
00:25:29What's declined?
00:25:31In our public service, you know.
00:25:34But what's declined is 91% of our government grant.
00:25:39No, no, in our public service,
00:25:41you know, the state of our road, for example,
00:25:48the cancellation of free swimming for our young people.
00:25:51Just, you know, the cancellation of...
00:25:53Just over to folks.
00:25:54The cancellation of...
00:25:55Alex, you keep talking over me, my dear friend, Alex.
00:26:00Well, you can talk about free swimming.
00:26:02It was literally a conservative policy.
00:26:05It was literally a conservative policy.
00:26:07Cancellation, cancellation of the prom,
00:26:09cancellation of the festival,
00:26:13cancellation of Dickens.
00:26:15Do you want to go...
00:26:16We don't have a money tree, Habib.
00:26:18You spent all the money.
00:26:19My dear friend, Alex, you keep speaking over me,
00:26:22my dear friend, Alex.
00:26:24My dear friend, Alex.
00:26:26You left nothing in the kitty.
00:26:27We were left with a council that was in the brink of bankruptcy
00:26:31after 20 years of misrule by your administration
00:26:34and you're complaining about cancellation of festivals.
00:26:38How do we pay for festivals when you've left no money?
00:26:41Alex, my dear friend, the books were always balanced until...
00:26:45Out of reserves.
00:26:46You spent every bit of savings.
00:26:48They were balanced out of reserves.
00:26:51You didn't save for a rainy day.
00:26:52You stole from a rainy day.
00:26:53No, reserve was growing.
00:26:55And what we're saying now is a reduction in reserve.
00:26:59The reserves were taken to the bare legal minimum.
00:27:02That reserve were incremental over time
00:27:05and the reserve was there because of good management.
00:27:10No, you blew it because you weren't prepared to take
00:27:12any tough decisions in any of those 20 years.
00:27:14No, my dear friend, Alex.
00:27:15You just spent the reserves.
00:27:18You forgot about the global phenomenon
00:27:19just before you came in.
00:27:21And people were looked after.
00:27:23Which global phenomenon are we talking about here?
00:27:25We're talking about the global financial crisis...
00:27:27No, no, no, no.
00:27:29No, no, no.
00:27:30My dear friend, my dear friend.
00:27:31It's never your fault.
00:27:32It's never your fault.
00:27:33My dear friend, Alex.
00:27:34We're talking about COVID.
00:27:35We're talking about the war in Ukraine.
00:27:37We're talking about the energy crisis.
00:27:38We're talking about all the grants.
00:27:40We're not at war in Ukraine.
00:27:40All the grants we give to our residents
00:27:42and how we look after everyone locally.
00:27:48And you know about that.
00:27:49All the businesses the council look after
00:27:51and all the grants that we're administering.
00:27:52That's why you left no money in the kitty.
00:27:54It's because of COVID.
00:27:56There were money there, Alex.
00:27:58There were reserves.
00:27:59What was the reserve?
00:28:02What reserve was there when you came in?
00:28:04We're going down to Folkestone.
00:28:05We have a result.
00:28:23We have a result.
00:28:27We have a result.
00:28:29We have a result.
00:28:31We have a result.
00:28:33We have a result.
00:28:35We have a result.
00:28:37We have a result.
00:28:39We have a result.
00:28:41We have a result.
00:28:43We have a result.
00:28:45We have a result.
00:28:47We have a result.
00:28:49We have a result.
00:28:52We have a result.
00:28:54We have a result.
00:28:56We have a result.
00:28:58We have a result.
00:29:00We have a result.
00:29:02We have a result.
00:29:04We have a result.
00:29:06We have a result.
00:29:08We have a result.
00:29:10We have a result.
00:29:12We have a result.
00:29:14We have a result.
00:29:16We have a result.
00:29:18We have a result.
00:29:20Let's see here.
00:29:50Okay.
00:30:16Okay.
00:30:18We need to apologize there for all the technical
00:30:20audio issues there.
00:30:22We understand that you can't really hear what's going on.
00:30:24We're going to get you the result from Folkestone
00:30:26as soon as possible.
00:30:28Okay.
00:30:30Okay.
00:30:32Okay.
00:30:34Okay.
00:30:36Okay.
00:30:38Okay.
00:30:40Okay.
00:30:42We have a label win in Folkestone.
00:30:44Alex Patterson, reaction?
00:30:46Well, you know, it's fantastic
00:30:48that what looks like a
00:30:50resurgence in Kent is taking place
00:30:52on the south coast as well
00:30:54as the north Kent coast and hopefully
00:30:56somewhere on the east Kent coast as well.
00:30:58So that's fantastic news.
00:31:00Same question.
00:31:02Habib, reaction?
00:31:04Labour takes Folkestone.
00:31:06Yes, I mean, Democrats,
00:31:08that's what people have decided
00:31:10and, you know,
00:31:12we have to accept that.
00:31:14Okay.
00:31:16Just going
00:31:18back to the situation
00:31:20in Midway and
00:31:22the
00:31:24state the Tories find
00:31:26yourselves in. You've lost
00:31:28Midway Council in the local elections
00:31:30last year.
00:31:32You've now potentially lost the three seats.
00:31:34Where does your party,
00:31:36your local party, go from here?
00:31:38In
00:31:40every difficult
00:31:42situation,
00:31:44if we are going to lose
00:31:46our three members
00:31:48of Parliament.
00:31:50We have to sit back
00:31:52and rethink
00:31:54and regroup and be
00:31:56honest with ourselves how we move
00:31:58forward.
00:32:00Okay, thank you, Habib.
00:32:02Okay, we're going to go back to the
00:32:04KMTV studio now where
00:32:06Councillor Roger Gough, the leader of
00:32:08KCC, is going to react
00:32:10to what's happened down in Folkestone.
00:32:12Thank you, Matt, bringing it back
00:32:14to the KMTV studio here.
00:32:16I'm joined by
00:32:18Roger Gough, the leader of Kent County
00:32:20Council, Anna Baldock, the leader
00:32:22of Canterbury City Council and, of course, Councillor
00:32:24Barry Lewis as well. But, Roger, in particular
00:32:26the leader of Kent County Council,
00:32:28that reaction to a Labour win in
00:32:30Folkestone. Yeah, I mean, clearly
00:32:32we were speaking about it a little bit earlier on.
00:32:34Deeply, you know,
00:32:36deep regret at seeing it happen.
00:32:38Damien Collins has been MP
00:32:40there for some time, since 2010
00:32:42and a good, hard-working MP
00:32:44so I'm very, very sorry. Did you expect it?
00:32:46I think we always recognised there was
00:32:48a significant possibility of it. I mean,
00:32:50it was not one of the seats that
00:32:52Conservatives could be confident of.
00:32:54What I haven't seen yet is the figures as to
00:32:56how close it was.
00:32:58We were talking earlier on, there was some
00:33:00rumour of... We'll have that shortly, yeah.
00:33:02Yeah, there was a rumour of the
00:33:04Conservatives coming third there,
00:33:06but I don't know whether that's
00:33:08correct, but either way, it's a
00:33:10loss, it's a significant loss. We'll definitely be
00:33:12able to confirm that soon as those numbers come through.
00:33:14We had a bit of audio issues there as that
00:33:16result was coming through, but yeah,
00:33:18Labour win. Alan?
00:33:20It's
00:33:22really good news and it's good
00:33:24that we're picking up Labour MPs.
00:33:26And did you expect it? Obviously, Roger,
00:33:28very honest there with the... Very much the same
00:33:30as Roger. It's looking
00:33:32very much, you know, the opinion polls
00:33:34were predicting
00:33:36potentially it could come to Labour.
00:33:38We're absolutely delighted that we are
00:33:40now going to get another Labour MP
00:33:42and one in the south-east as well.
00:33:44We hope we get a few more, yeah.
00:33:46It'll be good because they join the Labour
00:33:48team working in
00:33:50the south-east together, hopefully with local councils
00:33:52as well, so we'll certainly be
00:33:54keeping in touch with each other, I'm sure.
00:33:56The first one in for Kent. Barry,
00:33:58what's your reaction? Well, I'm not surprised.
00:34:00I mean,
00:34:02like Thanet,
00:34:04Folkestone has had demographic changes
00:34:06which must have helped the Labour
00:34:08party. But saying that
00:34:10only a few years ago, I don't think
00:34:12Folkestone had a Labour
00:34:14councillor. It definitely didn't have a county
00:34:16councillor, so it's a
00:34:18fantastic move
00:34:20and result.
00:34:22And I think it's a harbinger of things to come.
00:34:24And if we just take
00:34:26a look at the national
00:34:28picture as well,
00:34:30it's quickly increasing right at the start of
00:34:32our broadcast, obviously, as those counts start
00:34:34to come in. But now it's ticking
00:34:36over. Right at the minute, I'm looking at 75
00:34:38for Labour, 9 for Conservative,
00:34:406 for Lib Dem, and of course earlier, that
00:34:42first reform that come in.
00:34:44We'll just go through a bit of reaction
00:34:46from those results that are coming
00:34:48through, and I know we've been watching it on our computer
00:34:50screens here. Roger, what's surprised you in
00:34:52particular as you've been watching the sort of
00:34:54numbers ticking through?
00:34:56I don't think, to be honest, there have been big
00:34:58surprises, given what we saw from the exit
00:35:00poll so far. I mean, clearly
00:35:02there have been individual results, so I understand
00:35:04it, for instance, that Lee Anderson
00:35:06winning for reform in
00:35:08Ashfield was not something that was
00:35:10projected by the model. And I suspect
00:35:12equally, when we get to see the individual
00:35:14results in Kent, I wouldn't be
00:35:16surprised if the overall
00:35:18balance that they're
00:35:20projecting is about right.
00:35:22But it may not always be all the individual seats.
00:35:24So I suspect we will see
00:35:26some results.
00:35:28I've got these numbers come up on the screen here.
00:35:30The turnout is 62%. That's higher
00:35:32than the average. The average at the minute is
00:35:34about 57%, I think.
00:35:36Pretty close between
00:35:38reform and Conservatives there, and those numbers
00:35:40are all pretty high.
00:35:42What do you think seeing that, Roger?
00:35:44Well, it is striking
00:35:46that reform have come through
00:35:48as high as they did.
00:35:50As I was saying earlier on,
00:35:52one of the ways you can
00:35:54anticipate where you
00:35:56might have expected to see reform do well
00:35:58is where UKIP did well
00:36:00in, for instance, in our county elections
00:36:02in 2013. And you certainly did
00:36:04see some gains for them
00:36:06in that area. And if you look at these
00:36:08results, if those results weren't split like
00:36:10that, a clear win.
00:36:12Yes, I mean
00:36:14you always have to throw in the question as to
00:36:16where all the, not all the reform
00:36:18votes necessarily come from the Conservatives, although
00:36:20a majority
00:36:22of them certainly will.
00:36:24And they will have been switching
00:36:26across parties more generally.
00:36:28It's a huge impact.
00:36:30It is a big setback for us, there is no
00:36:32question about that. And Alan, what are you thinking
00:36:34seeing those numbers there? I mean, it's a good point.
00:36:36I mean,
00:36:38the reform have done for the Conservative
00:36:40Party, haven't they? We looked at several
00:36:42results earlier on
00:36:44in Angela Rayner becoming
00:36:46second place
00:36:48to a reform candidate. And the
00:36:50reform candidate for Angela Rayner
00:36:52saw the Conservative votes
00:36:54almost, the numbers.
00:36:56So those are really concerning
00:36:58and worrying things, I think, for any
00:37:00progressive party that sees that
00:37:02reform.
00:37:04We need to reflect on that
00:37:06after this election, certainly, and find out
00:37:08what it is that's
00:37:10making people feel they need to
00:37:12go to a party like reform.
00:37:14Yeah,
00:37:16it's a problem
00:37:18for us to look at and
00:37:20to understand.
00:37:22No point blaming the electorate.
00:37:24And I think, if we...
00:37:26OK, big shock,
00:37:28Keir Starmer
00:37:30is on stage and, of course,
00:37:32he's greasy.
00:37:34Another
00:37:36non-shock for us this evening.
00:37:38Yeah, that would have been a big shock.
00:37:40And the national
00:37:42picture looking 82 for Labour,
00:37:449 for Conservative, 8 for Lib Dems,
00:37:461 for reform as well.
00:37:48If my maths is
00:37:50correct, Tony Vaughan won
00:37:52with about 35% of the vote
00:37:54and normally you need 40%
00:37:56of the vote to win.
00:37:58So that shows the split
00:38:00on the right of the
00:38:02political
00:38:04map between Conservative and
00:38:06reform. And I think
00:38:08you're going to see this pattern where
00:38:10Conservative and reform
00:38:12will get equal
00:38:14amounts of votes and the Labour party
00:38:16comes through the middle and wins the seats.
00:38:18So it's a great result
00:38:20but it does
00:38:22show
00:38:24in a sense why
00:38:26first-past-the-post will
00:38:28exaggerate a lot of the
00:38:30results.
00:38:32So I'm not against
00:38:34necessarily first-past-the-post because it works
00:38:36in peculiar
00:38:38ways. But I think you're going to find that's
00:38:40happening. The right-wing vote
00:38:42that normally went straight
00:38:44to the Conservative party
00:38:46split 50-50 between Conservatives
00:38:48and reform and let Labour
00:38:50through the middle.
00:38:52And that's a non-political statement.
00:38:54I think he's absolutely
00:38:56right that where you've got very
00:38:58often what might become almost
00:39:00like a three-and-a-half party system,
00:39:02you will get these odd
00:39:04outcomes. And sometimes
00:39:06it will be when the Conservatives lose
00:39:08a seat. It may under some circumstances
00:39:10even be where they hold a seat but hold
00:39:12it on a share of the vote that
00:39:14wouldn't normally be seen as a winning share of the vote.
00:39:16So I think because you've got
00:39:18the impact of reform on top
00:39:20of then clearly you have on the
00:39:22left-hand side of politics
00:39:24you've got a Labour, Lib Dem and Green.
00:39:26You can have all sorts of combinations
00:39:28of the vote. I think the point I
00:39:30would like to make is in the past
00:39:32the right-wing have had
00:39:34one party to vote for
00:39:36while the progressive
00:39:38parties have been split between the Greens,
00:39:40Liberals and
00:39:42Labour. Now we've got a
00:39:44five-party system
00:39:46that will benefit
00:39:48Labour because
00:39:50the advantages the Tories had
00:39:52of being the
00:39:54only party that attracts the right-wing
00:39:56vote is now split.
00:39:58In this election it could be 50-50.
00:40:02I think that's right though I think
00:40:04it will also, what
00:40:06you get when you get a very
00:40:08multi-party
00:40:10type system of this is whoever
00:40:12actually really consolidates their position
00:40:14gets a disproportionate benefit.
00:40:16That's how Labour in this election
00:40:18may well end up with
00:40:20quite probably
00:40:22I think sub 40% of the vote
00:40:24and yet a majority
00:40:26pretty much equivalent to what Blair got
00:40:28at his height. I think to be honest
00:40:30I think Labour have learnt to play
00:40:32a very very hard game
00:40:34and
00:40:36we've been a merciless campaign
00:40:38it's been disciplined
00:40:40very organised
00:40:42I would say that wouldn't I
00:40:44but I do believe it has been
00:40:46and I think that's paid off because we knew
00:40:48what the battle was, we knew
00:40:50what the plan had to be because this
00:40:52was exactly what you could predict
00:40:54it's probably
00:40:56those sort of results are probably worse
00:40:58than what we would have thought but nonetheless
00:41:00it's the game that we played
00:41:02it's the battle we fought, the tactics we took
00:41:04that made sure that Labour have come through
00:41:06and you know
00:41:08we need, the country
00:41:10needed that change and we've offered that change
00:41:12and also the opportunity for people to
00:41:14choose actually
00:41:16what they want.
00:41:18Those tactics and those
00:41:20campaigns are a key part of
00:41:22the conversation and I suppose
00:41:24Roger, the lack thereof
00:41:26campaign for the Conservatives, they've been criticised
00:41:28for not stepping up
00:41:30for not stepping out and it's been
00:41:32I mean, particularly for us here
00:41:34in Kent, I know you were discussing with Andy just earlier
00:41:36on the show, why the Prime Minister
00:41:38hadn't shown his face
00:41:40in the county, Sir Keir Starmer
00:41:42launching his campaign here in Medway
00:41:44it does pose
00:41:46a question for how that looked
00:41:48like for us in Kent and if he just wasn't
00:41:50bothered to come down here, how do you think that campaign
00:41:52is compared and how much of an impact will
00:41:54the lack of campaign potentially
00:41:56have had on these votes or
00:41:58was it already set in stone?
00:42:00I think one could exaggerate
00:42:02the importance of individual things within
00:42:04a campaign. I think this has been
00:42:06a long time brewing, this particular
00:42:08result. Not just the past six weeks.
00:42:10Not just the past six weeks. Fourteen years.
00:42:12But, well, particularly in the
00:42:14last few years, there have been
00:42:16a number of things that have happened which
00:42:18I think have had that effect. But what you also
00:42:20see, and it happens often
00:42:22when you are at the end of a long
00:42:24period of government, is that
00:42:26the governing party,
00:42:28in this case us, doesn't have that
00:42:30campaign discipline. And a hungry
00:42:32opposition does
00:42:34have that. And Labour
00:42:36have clearly worked on it long and hard and very
00:42:38successfully. The challenge, which will be
00:42:40interesting to see, is can they
00:42:42have that same focus and effectiveness
00:42:44about governing that they've
00:42:46had on campaigning? That will be
00:42:48the test they will be put to. Absolutely.
00:42:50Yeah. And I think the other
00:42:52thing you have to realise, I think,
00:42:54as any politician, we all do here,
00:42:56is that you get elected to solve
00:42:58the problem. You don't get elected to moan at the other
00:43:00party that was doing it before.
00:43:02Clearly, it's your day. It's your time
00:43:04to deliver. That's
00:43:06what happens after election. You just forget about
00:43:08the past and get on with the future.
00:43:10I just want to jump in. We'll come back to this conversation
00:43:12in just a bit of an update. We've had
00:43:14that two counts in Medway will come in
00:43:16at 5am. Then Chatham and Ellsford
00:43:18will come in at 6am for all of
00:43:20those watching. Waiting for those
00:43:22Medway counts, maybe have a couple of hours
00:43:24kip and then come back on. 5am
00:43:26we're expecting it, but don't hold me to that because
00:43:28it always changes, doesn't it,
00:43:30as we're learning. I wanted
00:43:32to, Barry, I'll let you
00:43:34come in. I know you wanted to jump in on the conversation
00:43:36then. I just think
00:43:38what you're saying about
00:43:40the 14 years, on
00:43:42the doorstep, I was asking one question
00:43:44and that
00:43:46question was, what's improved in
00:43:48the last 14 years?
00:43:50And silence is golden.
00:43:52There was no reply.
00:43:54And that,
00:43:56so it just hasn't happened over
00:43:58the last 14 weeks, 6 weeks.
00:44:00It's 14 years of deterioration.
00:44:02Nothing works.
00:44:04You can't get a dentist.
00:44:06You phone up a doctor at
00:44:088 o'clock in the morning.
00:44:10You hang on until 9 o'clock
00:44:12and then the answer you get is you
00:44:14should have phoned at 8 o'clock.
00:44:16Nothing's working. The bus services
00:44:18are collapsing around us.
00:44:20Adult social care is in a mess.
00:44:22Everything doesn't
00:44:24work. And
00:44:26there used to be old slogans
00:44:28saying Labour isn't working.
00:44:30Well that's now
00:44:32changed to Conservatives aren't
00:44:34working. And you've seen it in
00:44:36County Council. You've
00:44:38been more of a critic of the Government than I
00:44:40have sometimes.
00:44:42That's the irony.
00:44:44That's the irony. I don't have
00:44:46to attack the Conservatives' Government
00:44:48because you were doing it for me.
00:44:50We've always said, this came up earlier
00:44:52on, we've been very clear that we
00:44:54will, as a Council,
00:44:56and this
00:44:58will now come up with a new Government,
00:45:00we will be pretty robust
00:45:02in setting out what we think is in Kent's
00:45:04interest. And frankly whether
00:45:06it's a Conservative Government or Labour. Just to bring in a big
00:45:08Cabinet casualty, Grant Shapps has
00:45:10lost his seat.
00:45:12Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
00:45:14Which was quite widely forecast.
00:45:16It was predictable.
00:45:18First of many.
00:45:20By how
00:45:22many? 19,000?
00:45:24First of many.
00:45:26About 8%.
00:45:28And Reform coming in third there.
00:45:30To gain the
00:45:32Reform vote
00:45:34has allowed Labour to come through in the middle.
00:45:36Potentially.
00:45:38And obviously how many Cabinet seats
00:45:40were at risk? I think we said earlier on, didn't we?
00:45:42There are a number.
00:45:44That's fine.
00:45:46That's about the only number.
00:45:48You're supposed to
00:45:50answer the question.
00:45:52Who's the journalist
00:45:54out here?
00:45:56I wanted to bring in this.
00:45:58The turnout, 62%.
00:46:00We're circling right back to folks in Hyde,
00:46:02that first result
00:46:04that come in. 62%.
00:46:06That's pretty average, that's what's coming in.
00:46:08I think the average was around 15.
00:46:10I think that would be the average for the country.
00:46:12About half an hour ago
00:46:14it was about 57%, the average.
00:46:16But it's a very rapidly changing
00:46:18picture.
00:46:20Some of the lower, on the lower
00:46:22side, just sort of 50%
00:46:24turnouts. Does that
00:46:26surprise you? Is it expected?
00:46:28How can we get
00:46:30people to go out and vote?
00:46:32The thing is, I think
00:46:34people
00:46:36want to hear positive
00:46:38comments.
00:46:40I'm proud, one of the
00:46:42things I'm proud of as a councillor is I do
00:46:44not attack the opposition.
00:46:46I think you would agree with that.
00:46:48I'm one of the rare breed
00:46:50of Labour councillors, probably, that don't
00:46:52attack the opposition. I say what
00:46:54I want to happen
00:46:56and I say what I've done
00:46:58and if people don't like
00:47:00it, vote against me.
00:47:02Attacking the opposition is easy.
00:47:04You've got to be
00:47:06positive in politics
00:47:08and there's too much negativity.
00:47:10Positive about your own policies and your party
00:47:12rather than...
00:47:14That seems like
00:47:16you're going to be heavily outnumbered
00:47:18when it comes to fighting other
00:47:20politicians against you.
00:47:22Everybody else does quite the opposite.
00:47:24No, but I find
00:47:26the reason why I won against
00:47:28the opposition... I'm sorry Barry, we're going to have a result soon.
00:47:30Not going to
00:47:32come to it yet, but we're going to have Gravesham
00:47:34come through very soon.
00:47:36That would be interesting.
00:47:38Gravesham's Labour candidate
00:47:40is Lauren Sullivan,
00:47:42who's the leader of
00:47:44Kent County Council.
00:47:46Of the Labour group.
00:47:48I thought you were about to say...
00:47:50Well, it's
00:47:52in my dreams.
00:47:56She's worked very hard
00:47:58and
00:48:00it's going to be a very
00:48:02positive result,
00:48:04I would imagine.
00:48:06What would you think of your counterpart taking the seat there?
00:48:08I know Lauren well.
00:48:10Let's see the result.
00:48:12Again,
00:48:14this is one that I think has been
00:48:16widely flagged as being
00:48:18likely to fall.
00:48:20I know
00:48:22Lauren well and frankly wish her well
00:48:24in that.
00:48:26I will look forward to working with her
00:48:28in a different guise.
00:48:30If it does go this way,
00:48:32with Adam Holloway,
00:48:34you'll lose certain colour from the
00:48:36House of Commons and from the Kent presence.
00:48:38He brought his
00:48:40own particular style to it and I have a lot of
00:48:42affection and respect
00:48:44for Adam as well.
00:48:46As I said earlier on,
00:48:48we will seek
00:48:50as an administration
00:48:52to work both in terms of
00:48:54a different colour national government
00:48:56and with what's going to be actually a very
00:48:58mixed political representation
00:49:00across Kent in terms
00:49:02of MPs.
00:49:04It is perhaps in one sense,
00:49:06Lauren is certainly well known to us.
00:49:08But let's see.
00:49:10Also, it brings up again
00:49:12the issue of age.
00:49:14I think it's fantastic we're seeing younger
00:49:16people come in.
00:49:18You said how to get people involved.
00:49:20If you've got old men
00:49:22like the three of us,
00:49:24if you like,
00:49:26speak for yourself.
00:49:28It's true though.
00:49:32If the whole
00:49:34parliamentary
00:49:36picture is old men,
00:49:38then younger
00:49:40people are going to be turned off.
00:49:42Diversity is important.
00:49:44So the younger the membership
00:49:46of the Parliament is, I think
00:49:48you can increase the number of people voting.
00:49:54We're hearing that Maidstone
00:49:56is really close to coming to a result.
00:49:58Possible recount I'm hearing
00:50:00though as well.
00:50:02We're going to have all the results come with you
00:50:04three sat here, getting your live reaction.
00:50:06Do you want to stay until ten?
00:50:08In the morning, no.
00:50:10I think we might need a few more
00:50:12coffees, teas.
00:50:14That was cliché when they came in.
00:50:16I think we'll
00:50:18age about ten years
00:50:20in the ten hours we've got or so left.
00:50:22But if I can come back to that point about turnout,
00:50:24I think part of it is
00:50:26how contested are the elections.
00:50:28I think a lot this time round there was a
00:50:30widespread expectation as to which way
00:50:32it was going to go.
00:50:34I do think also that
00:50:36none of the great parties,
00:50:38traditional parties, have
00:50:40fired up enthusiasm in this
00:50:42election. In fact, there was
00:50:44a phrase Willie Whitelaw used many years
00:50:46ago about politicians going round the
00:50:48country stirring up apathy.
00:50:50And I think
00:50:52we may have had a bit of that.
00:50:54Because if you look at elections over the
00:50:56years, when it's felt
00:50:58there really is something at stake
00:51:00and that the result is unclear,
00:51:02you do see higher turnouts.
00:51:04You saw it in 1992, I think
00:51:06from memory, a somewhat higher turnout
00:51:08in 2017.
00:51:10So I think you do
00:51:12see that. So I think that may be a reflection
00:51:14of it, but it's always a challenge that
00:51:16politicians, particularly
00:51:18of the conventional parties, the traditional
00:51:20parties, have
00:51:22their work cut out
00:51:24when we face some of these big problems,
00:51:26some of those that Barry was mentioning,
00:51:28to which there aren't necessarily obvious
00:51:30solutions. And
00:51:32as I said earlier on, I think the parties
00:51:34have struggled a bit to really engage
00:51:36those problems in the campaign.
00:51:38And voters get that.
00:51:40Can I come in?
00:51:42Just quickly, yeah. I think
00:51:44there's a different way
00:51:46of looking at it. The previous election
00:51:48was between Boris Johnson and
00:51:50Jeremy Corbyn. Complete
00:51:52opposites. And when you've got
00:51:54and they had radical ideas,
00:51:56both of them, whether
00:51:58you agreed or not. Now you've got
00:52:00Ritchie Sooner and
00:52:02Keir Starmer, and
00:52:04they're more managers.
00:52:06And they've come
00:52:08together. A lot of their policies are
00:52:10similar. So people, and I
00:52:12think that's why reform has come through strongly,
00:52:14that even if
00:52:16you disagree with reform,
00:52:18like I do, they
00:52:20kind of said something
00:52:22slightly different to the centre
00:52:24ground.
00:52:26So when you have two parties that
00:52:28are coming together in policy
00:52:30about growth,
00:52:32things like that, very, very difficult
00:52:34subjects. And they're probably correct on it.
00:52:36If someone comes in and
00:52:38brings a bit of
00:52:40a different approach,
00:52:42even if it's a load of
00:52:44rubbish, like I think reform
00:52:46policies are, people
00:52:48will start voting.
00:52:50People are fed up and they want to change.
00:52:52I think actually, yeah, because I think
00:52:54what happens to a degree
00:52:56is both parties
00:52:58get the blame for
00:53:00the party that's in power.
00:53:02Because if you're an opposition MP,
00:53:04you're still going to get blamed for
00:53:06the useless health service, although it's got nothing to do with
00:53:08you. If you're useless,
00:53:10you know,
00:53:12as a councillor,
00:53:14if you're an opposition councillor, you get blamed for
00:53:16how bad the council is. And that happens
00:53:18anyway. So I was saying
00:53:20earlier on, isn't it, when you get elected
00:53:22it's your job to move the change
00:53:24button. And you have to do that
00:53:26otherwise
00:53:28people, you can still get the
00:53:30other party getting the blame what you do wrong, but
00:53:32you want to change it to a positive
00:53:34experience only as quickly as you can.
00:53:36I was talking about this earlier, with responsibility
00:53:38as well, when the
00:53:40blame will shift,
00:53:42when it will stop being, oh, we've had 14 years
00:53:44of a bad Conservative.
00:53:46And when does the next
00:53:48party take responsibility
00:53:50and say, well, it's up to us to change that now?
00:53:52You have to do that on day one. I don't think
00:53:54there's any doubt.
00:53:56Do you think Sir Keir Starmer will?
00:53:58Do you think he'll leave those 14 years
00:54:00in the past and not mention them again?
00:54:02Or will that continue to be blamed?
00:54:04It's almost the thing, it's what I've done
00:54:06in Canterbury Council, if you like, and I think
00:54:08Borough Council is the same thing,
00:54:10is it? You have to
00:54:12reason with the public, say, look,
00:54:14I've been left a terrible mess to sort out.
00:54:16You know, this is going to take
00:54:18me time, but I'll be open and honest
00:54:20with you, these are things we are going to do and these are things
00:54:22we want to do. And that, I think,
00:54:24is why you have to phrase it, and I think
00:54:26the Labour government will have to do something
00:54:28very similar. I think it's direction,
00:54:30but Labour's had
00:54:3214 years of the luxury of opposition.
00:54:34Yep. That stops now.
00:54:36Yeah, it's already
00:54:38stopped.
00:54:40Oppositions don't win elections.
00:54:42Governments lose elections.
00:54:44And so
00:54:46it's easy to be in opposition,
00:54:48in the context.
00:54:50It's horrible
00:54:52to be in opposition,
00:54:54but it's easy because you can
00:54:56say what you would
00:54:58do without having the responsibility.
00:55:00And so the test
00:55:02for Sir Keir Starmer is
00:55:04to
00:55:06come up to scratch.
00:55:08And that's a lot of what the criticism
00:55:10has been, is that you can make promises
00:55:12and we just don't know if you can fulfil them, and that's been
00:55:14the argument.
00:55:16And that, I think, is exactly the reason the
00:55:18Labour campaign has been actually quite
00:55:20boring, but very straightforward.
00:55:22You know, it's broken.
00:55:24We've got to fix it.
00:55:26We can only afford to do a bit.
00:55:28But we're going to enlist in.
00:55:30We know it's fixed, broken.
00:55:32And I think that's the whole point
00:55:34about it, really, has been that focus on it.
00:55:36And people have actually got it, I think.
00:55:38And I think that's why Labour's done well.
00:55:40Roger, are you disappointed that the Conservatives haven't come back
00:55:42with their campaign of
00:55:44going off the back of the Labour
00:55:46it's broken, we'll fix it, to no, don't worry,
00:55:48we've got it. Are you disappointed
00:55:50that there wasn't more?
00:55:52I think
00:55:54we lacked, as I said, coherence
00:55:56and discipline, and I say that
00:55:58happens quite often when you have parties
00:56:00that have been in government for a long time.
00:56:02But there's also been the huge
00:56:04churn that we've seen in recent years,
00:56:06you know, changes in governments,
00:56:08the period of profound instability
00:56:10we've had over the last
00:56:12eight years, all of which I think has taken
00:56:14its toll on our ability to convey
00:56:16something effective in this campaign.
00:56:18Was there just no point?
00:56:20Was there just no point in even trying
00:56:22with a campaign? Would a campaign
00:56:24been, a sufficient campaign,
00:56:26effective enough to make any difference?
00:56:28I think, well,
00:56:30I think it goes back wide. I think
00:56:32had we been able to develop a
00:56:34degree of coherence,
00:56:36not just in the campaign, but over
00:56:38the last couple of years,
00:56:40you know, after, my view
00:56:42is there was no real coming back
00:56:44for us after what happened in
00:56:462022. But
00:56:48I think there are better and worse
00:56:50ways of dealing with that, and I don't
00:56:52think we put ourselves
00:56:54together coherently and
00:56:56effectively as we might
00:56:58have been able to, in which case we certainly
00:57:00could have limited some of the damage.
00:57:02I think, to be honest, it was
00:57:04being on a little bit of a hiding to nothing after
00:57:062022, but it could have been
00:57:08handled better than it has. But that's not just a matter
00:57:10of the campaign. Really sorry to interrupt, Barry, I know you want
00:57:12to come in. We're going to Gravesham now.
00:57:26Okay, thank you very much, everybody.
00:57:36So this is
00:57:38the election of a Member of Parliament for the
00:57:40Gravesham constituency.
00:57:42Declaration of result of poll held
00:57:44on the 4th of July, 2024.
00:57:46I, Stuart
00:57:48Bobbie, being the acting attorney
00:57:50for the Gravesham constituency,
00:57:52declare that the total number of votes given
00:57:54to each candidate was as follows.
00:57:56Matthew
00:57:58Herbert Trader-Moat,
00:58:00with 4 UKs,
00:58:028,910.
00:58:04Adam
00:58:06James Harold Holloway,
00:58:08the Conservative Party candidate,
00:58:1013,911.
00:58:14APPLAUSE
00:58:20Rebecca Grace Hopkins,
00:58:22the Green Party candidate,
00:58:242,254.
00:58:26APPLAUSE
00:58:30Yutonu Elisha
00:58:32Zubassi, commonly known as
00:58:34Yutono Zubassi,
00:58:36Liberal Democrat,
00:58:381,534.
00:58:40APPLAUSE
00:58:42Lauren Sullivan,
00:58:44Labour Party,
00:58:4616,623.
00:58:48APPLAUSE
00:58:56OK, well, we've still got the
00:58:58picture here from that Gravesend.
00:59:00Roger, we'll come to you with that
00:59:02result there, Lauren O'Sullivan taking
00:59:04that for Labour, 16,000
00:59:06for her.
00:59:08Yes, and congratulations to
00:59:10Lauren on winning that. As I say, I know her
00:59:12well because she is my
00:59:14opposite number, my opposition leader.
00:59:16And
00:59:18clearly, as I say, a great
00:59:20success for her and for Labour.
00:59:22It was interesting, I think
00:59:24we'll have to see exactly how it played out,
00:59:26but I think Adam Holloway still put in,
00:59:28under the circumstances, a relatively strong
00:59:30performance. And as I say,
00:59:32I think we will lose something with
00:59:34losing Adam from Parliament.
00:59:36Again, I'm sad to see that.
00:59:38That will inevitably be the case through this evening.
00:59:40Did you think that was going to happen?
00:59:42Yes, to be honest with you, I thought it was
00:59:44again, one of those that was
00:59:46not even, I think, seen as
00:59:48being as on the cusp as some others, I'm
00:59:50afraid. Because we want the buzzwords of
00:59:52let's wait and see, let's wait and see, but
00:59:54it was what you expected.
00:59:56What do you think? Yes, we thought
00:59:58that would be one that we could win.
01:00:00And the numbers,
01:00:0216,000-ish, we'll get the numbers up shortly
01:00:04when our team behind the scenes
01:00:06are rapidly working on that,
01:00:08all the crew working so hard. About
01:00:1013,000 for Adam Holloway.
01:00:12That's a strong result, wasn't it?
01:00:14Lauren's over the line.
01:00:16It's over the line,
01:00:18and that's the most important thing.
01:00:20Lauren will be an amazing MP. She's an incredible
01:00:22hard-working
01:00:24councillor, isn't she, for that?
01:00:26Really good politician as well.
01:00:28I'm really, really pleased
01:00:30that she's going to be part of that Kent team again.
01:00:32And Barry, we saw
01:00:34about 8,000. I think I heard that correctly.
01:00:36We will get those numbers soon
01:00:38for reform there. It seems to be
01:00:40the pattern that we're seeing unfolding.
01:00:42I think if my maths is right,
01:00:44doing it ahead,
01:00:46again, 50% for the right,
01:00:4850% for the left,
01:00:50and Lauren... You can stay all night
01:00:52doing the percentages.
01:00:54Get you behind the scenes.
01:00:56I want more money.
01:01:00No, look,
01:01:02Lauren has been my
01:01:04guidance. I mean, she's
01:01:06the leader of the Kent. So I'm a bit
01:01:08disappointed. I'm trying to
01:01:10persuade her to stay on
01:01:12as a council leader for the
01:01:14next ten months.
01:01:16That's going to be my job
01:01:18to do that. You'll be lucky
01:01:20to get ten weeks.
01:01:22I think there might be some others
01:01:24who will make decisions on that. There we go.
01:01:26We were about right with the numbers there.
01:01:28Nearly 14,000.
01:01:30Am I right? It's about 20,000
01:01:32for each. If you add the
01:01:34Green and the
01:01:36Liberal down, it's about
01:01:3822,000 each.
01:01:40Again, it's
01:01:42the five-way split and
01:01:44how it splits.
01:01:46It's just another result
01:01:48where Labour have gained
01:01:50the vast majority of the
01:01:52left vote,
01:01:54in inverted commas, and the
01:01:56Conservatives and Reform have come
01:01:58and split themselves in half.
01:02:00I think it's that strong message again.
01:02:02The vote for change, things are broken.
01:02:04Let's fix it.
01:02:06I think it has to play out about keeping the Labour vote
01:02:08strong all the way through.
01:02:10That 10 out of 59%, just a bit lower than
01:02:12that of Folkestone.
01:02:14Expected? It's disappointing
01:02:16that 60% will hopefully go down to 70%,
01:02:18don't we? General elections, generally
01:02:20speaking. I think we're going to go to
01:02:22Lauren O'Sullivan making a speech
01:02:24now at the count.
01:02:26...
01:02:28on this campaign.
01:02:30Of course, my wonderful family
01:02:32have supported me throughout.
01:02:34I'd like to thank all the candidates
01:02:36from their parties, and in
01:02:38particular, I would like to pay
01:02:40tribute to Adam.
01:02:42The Adam Holloway, who has served
01:02:44our borough for 19 years.
01:02:46While I do not agree with all
01:02:48of his policies, I can
01:02:50thank him for the
01:02:52service he has done for Gratian and
01:02:54its people, and the thousands of residents
01:02:56that he and his team have helped.
01:02:58I hope to continue that
01:03:00legacy, serving people
01:03:02here in Gratian,
01:03:04but speaking up for them there.
01:03:06...
01:03:08We'll get that to you in
01:03:10better quality a
01:03:12bit later in our show as well. You could hear a little
01:03:14bit of what she was saying there, thanking her family, but we'll
01:03:16get that to you. East Dannet,
01:03:18result coming in very soon.
01:03:20I was right in saying you were sitting here.
01:03:22And Jeremy Corbyn
01:03:24has just kept his seat
01:03:26as an Independent. Which you'd get was expected, wasn't it?
01:03:28I think you're right.
01:03:30Speaking there.
01:03:32East Dannet, result coming soon.
01:03:34We are expecting those two Medway counts at 5am,
01:03:36the third Chatham Nailsville at 6am.
01:03:38I think we're going to
01:03:40head over to Medway Park
01:03:42soon and give you guys
01:03:44a rest. We can get
01:03:46number crunching, Barry. You can have a cup
01:03:48of tea and a coffee, a snack as well.
01:03:50OK, we're going to head over to Medway Park now.
01:03:58Thank you.