Medway Council has just entered a new municipal year, the third since the last set of local elections in the Towns.

Since May last year we’ve seen a general election which ended 14 years of Tory rule, and the rise of the newest element in the UK’s politics - Reform UK - which has certainly caused a significant reaction.

Locally, projects like Cozenton Park Leisure Centre opened and Medway Council purchased properties to use as its own temporary accommodation stock in order to try and reduce costs - even Innovation Park Medway saw some new developments.

The finances of the authority remain tricky, but the dreaded S114 - effective bankruptcy - has been kept at bay.

But on the horizon remains the largest change in local government since the 1970s, which will see all councils in Kent dissolved and new ones formed.

Local Democracy Reporter Robert Boddy caught up with the leaders of the political groups to talk about what they’ve achieved over the past year and what they have planned for the future.

Labour and Co-operative

Of all the three groups, Labour have probably had the most volatile time since last May.

Less than a month after the new council year’s beginning, then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called an early election from the steps of Downing Street.

Inside of 24 hours, Sir Keir Starmer came to none other than Gillingham FC’s Priestfield Stadium to launch his ultimately successful campaign.

Three Medway Labour councillors, Naushabah Khan, Tristan Osborne, and Lauren Edwards were elected as part of the 174-seat majority in the House of Commons.

But the by-elections to replace them seven months later saw Reform UK win two of the three seats - a sign of things to come at KCC’s county hall.

However, Medway Council’s Labour leader Vince Maple says there are bright spots too and says he’s working to ensure each year gets better for the people in the Towns.

“The second year is different from the first,” he said. “Not necessarily easier, just different.

“The first year you can plan for, decide ahead of time what changes you’re going to make, but after that, you can’t plan for events.

“But even with some challenges, we’ve continued our focus on the journey for financial sustainability and delivering good quality services.”

Key moments from the past 12 months he highlights are the first inspection of Medway Council’s social housing and an evaluation of its adult social care service and the council’s decision to mitigate some of the impact of the government’s winter fuel allowance cuts.

“We’ve had a couple of inspections, and in both there was clearly some of our good practice highlighted but room for improvement and we’ll always be looking to improve.

“I’m not for a moment comparing running a unitary authority and running the country, but I do understand the need to make difficult decisions.

“By the nature of means testing that does mean there’s a cut-off and for those who are just above the cut-off the council stepped in and make a positive contribution to support those individuals.

“We also did a lot to encourage those who qualify and should have been getting pension credit to sign up for it as well.”

It’s not all managing difficult circumstances though, this year the Cozenton Park Sports Centre opened under-budget and the council’s scheme to purchase and run its own temporary accommodation got underway.

“We’re very proud to see Cozenton Park open and the feedback we’ve had, particularly from people with limited mobility, is that it’s a really fantastic, accessible facility.

“On temporary accommodation, this is a national issue and Medway is not unique in having to face it - in fact some borough councils are having to spend 50% of their budgets on it.

“We’ve decided to take a proactive approach to tackle the issue, we can’t just do nothing and deal with the consequences.

“We’re unashamed about shaking up the market and saying we want best outcomes for those vulnerable families.

“Nobody wants to be in temporary accommodation, so for those who find themselves there we want them to feel as safe and secure as possible.”

The loss of the two seats to Reform was disappointing, but Cllr Maple says, despite their political differences, he wants a good working relationship as he would with any political group.

“It’s always frustrating when you lose a seat but there will be lots of reasons why some people didn't vote a different way, some people stayed at home.

“I spoke to [Cllrs Finch and Vye] on the evening of the by-election about making sure they get the briefings and information as new councillors.

“The conversations I’ve had with them so far, although there haven’t been many, they’ve been cordial.

“Similarly, the new leader of KCC, Linden Kemkaran, I’ve spoken with her only briefly for the time being as she’s got a lot to get to grips with at the moment.

“But there are many responsibilities which overlap between KCC and Medway Council and the starting point for both of us is we want the best outcomes for residents, regardless of who’s in charge.”

Looking ahead, the two biggest challenges coming up this municipal year are the local plan, with a draft version coming next month, and the local government reorganisation which will see Medway Council replaced with a number of unitary authorities across Kent.

Labour were elected to office in Medway in 2023 on a promise of delivering a local plan, since the last one was created in 2003.

He said: “Last week we had the 22nd birthday of the existing local plan - I don’t think that’s a card you’ll find in many card shops to be honest.

“Undoubtedly, the local plan will be about compromise and there will be bits that annoy people, but the aim is to have something which annoys everyone a little bit and is fair rather than causing some people more pain than others.

“But the lack of a local plan has meant developments which I haven’t wanted to go ahead have, purely because we don’t have a strong basis to say ‘no’.

“That’s not acceptable and so that’s why we are prioritising getting the local plan done.”

As for council reorganisation and the end of Medway, Cllr Maple says he’ll be sad to see the authority go, but will put himself forward to stand whenever the time comes.

He continued: “I’ve been a councillor for 18 years now and when this term finishes it’ll have been two decades of my life.

“I hope I will still be able to play a role when Medway Council ceases to be - on the condition the people decide they want to vote for me.

“But that’s a way down the track yet, and I’m really more focused on making the improvements we can now to benefit residents.

“I’m optimistic for our third year, a lot of good things are coming and good work to build on.”

Conservative Party

This time last year, the Conservatives were in Downing Street, a solace to the local Tory group who had been booted from Gun Wharf in Medway.

Their leader, Cllr George Perfect, has now been in charge for a year and believes, despite some disappointing outcomes at KCC and in the by-elections in the Towns, they have united, solidified, and are effectively challenging the administration.

Particularly, he says, the Tory group has major concerns about the financial management of the council and believes the second year of exceptional financial support (EFS) is just pushing problems further down the track.

“Nationally it’s been a challenging year, we had our worst ever general election defeat, followed by our worst ever local election defeat across the border in Kent and elsewhere, but I think we're in a good place as a group locally.

“We’ve delivered a strong response to the budget, we’ve got a new shadow cabinet that are performing really well, and the group are working really hard and really well together.

“Kemi’s got a very difficult task on her hands, rebuilding the Conservative Party from its worst ever defeat - whoever was the leader that’s a monumental task.”

Cllr Perfect says the main successes for his group this year include offering alternatives in the budgeting process and the scrutiny of the Labour group in committees.

“We’ve really been holding the administration to account, particularly in relation to the budget.

“We demonstrated there was another approach in terms of reducing the overall amount of exceptional financial support needed, keeping the free swimming and keeping parking charges low.

“We’ve got massive levels of in-year overspend every single year, significant borrowing we're taking from the government in order to fill budget gaps, unfunded pay rises and rising parking charges.

“It is not a position that we would want to be in. I think they've made a number of mistakes and errors which they needn't have made, to be honest.”

“We’re very proud of the work that we’re actually delivering through overview and scrutiny committees, holding the administration to account and ensuring that they actually deliver for residents, whether it be on health, regeneration or the overall leadership of the council.

It’s not all adversarial, and Cllr Perfect said he’s happy to give credit to the administration for its working cross-party both in the Towns and with then-Tory leader of KCC Roger Gough on the devolution bid and local government reorganisation.

“On local government reorganisation and devolution, I really commend Vince for his leadership of that, with my friend and colleague Roger Gough and the genuine cross-party working that’s gone on between all of the district authorities, KCC and Medway.

“I think that has reflected very positively on everyone, of all political persuasions, across the county - that is something that I think the leader’s done a good job on.”

With the abolishing of Medway Council coming in the next few years, Cllr Perfect says the scrutiny of the administration is all the more important.

“The financial position of the council is of concern for taxpayers - particularly the significant levels of borrowing, which at some point will have to be paid back, whether it’s by this authority or whether it’s by a future authority.

“And our position is always to get the best value for taxpayers’ money - that’s why we support three unitary authorities rather than four in the reorganisation.

“The unitary authority in Medway has been a great success and you can demonstrate over the last 20 years all of the things that have been delivered as a result of it.

“When the time comes I definitely would like to stand in my area, and hopefully be lucky enough to get residents’ support, but we’re not at that point yet.

“It’s not about me, or any other personalities, it’s about delivering what the people of Medway need and in the immediate future we’re looking at things like the local plan.

“We’ll be looking at that very carefully and making our comments and views clear in the best interests of the Towns.”

The Independent Group

The only group to have grown - and for the second year running - is the Independent Group, led by Cllr George Crozer.

Towards the end of the first year of the term, former Tory Cllr Elizabeth Turpin joined the group. Just a few weeks later another Tory, Cllr John Williams, also jumped over to the Independent Group.

Cllr Crozer says they’re always open to others joining them, and he believes they are a broad church where members are free to vote how they choose - the uniting element being that they are dedicated to serving their areas.

“I think local politics can just end up replaying the positions of the national parties, but actually people want councillors to represent them.

“People on the peninsula are very interested in what’s going on and they’re very peninsula-focused.

“I don’t think this is limited to them though, I think across Medway want councillors who aren’t focused on the party line, more on the place they represent.”

Over the past year Cllr Crozer says the Hoo Peninsula has been heard more than ever before, particularly with events such as the Medway Matters Live and the Hoo Neighbourhood Plan.

He continued: “I think it’s being heard more now than it was before, absolutely.

“And there’s more interest, I think, from the portfolio holders that I speak to about the Peninsula, I do feel that.

“Whether that’s a guise for something coming down the track we’ll see, particularly with the local plan coming.

“The fact they come out and talk to us is a positive thing and we’re engaged with our communities very closely, so we can feedback to them.”

The local plan is a key event coming up and Cllr Crozer says the Independent Group are optimistic this version compared to previous attempts.

He said: “The local plan will be the biggest thing for us this year, and it’s not just housing, it’s the whole gambit - health, business, education, infrastructure.

“Housing is going to be a big part of it and everyone understands there needs to be more housing, but the previous administration seemed to want to unfairly distribute it on the peninsula.

“The sort of things we’re hearing from the administration, we think this new version will be a lot fairer - but we’ll have to wait and see if that truly is the case when we get the draft version.

“But people notice the lack of infrastructure there is on the peninsula, the fact it’s so hard to get a doctor’s appointment, that there’s only one route on and one route off, all these different things.

“So it’s really important the local plan addresses those problems as well.

“A little while ago it was found the money which was supposed to go to a Strood healthy living centre was reallocated to the Chatham one.

“Now I understand that wasn’t Medway Council, it was the ICB, and there were reasons for doing that, but the end result is still that there isn’t a healthy living centre this side of the river.

“Health provisions for the peninsula isn’t a quick fix, there’s a lot of work to do, and it will be something the new authority will have to look at as well.”

Although the larger authorities might make some think the voices of the Hoo Peninsula might be drowned out, Cllr Crozer believes there’s a possibility to give them strength.

He continued: “It depends on how the boundaries are drawn and who we’re joined with, but there are a number of important rural areas in north Kent which could be joined together and jointly fight for their protection.

“We won’t know until it happens but if they are combined and if the UNESCO bid for the area comes off, hopefully they’ll be able to treat it as the important place it is.

“I haven’t ruled out putting myself forward for the new authority, it’s about two years away and I’m 74 and there are people doing it who are older than me.

“I’m sure some of my colleagues will certainly want to be involved, so it will depend on what things are like in two years.

“But regardless, there will always be people fighting for the Hoo Peninsula and trying to get it what it and the people who live there need.”

Reform UK

KentOnline tried several times to contact Reform UK’s Medway leader, Cllr David Finch, for an interview about the first few months of the group on Medway Council and their plans for the future.

Despite phone calls, texts, and emails, he did not respond to our requests.