The official list of all the candidates standing in the upcoming by-elections for Medway Council has been published. Residents in Rochester East and Warren Wood, and Gillingham South will go to the polls on February 6 after three councillors resigned their seats.
Lauren Edwards and Tristan Osborne represented Rochester East and Warren Wood, and Naushabah Khan represented Gillingham South for the Labour Party, but have stood down after being elected to parliament in July’s general election. Edwards now represents Rochester and Strood, Osborne represents Chatham and Aylesford and Khan represents Gillingham and Rainham in the House of Commons.
They handed in their notice to Medway Council that they would be resigning as councillors on December 16. Nominations for candidates opened on January 3 and closed on January 10, and the full list has now been published.
Rochester East and Warren Wood
Both Lauren Edwards and Tristan Osborne represented the ward, so two seats are up for election. The candidates are:
Standing for the Labour Party are Carolyn Hart, a writer and former lecturer and trade union activist, and Robert Wyatt, a former headteacher who lived in the ward for over 20 years.
The Conservative Party has nominated George Clarke, a digital communications officer and charity campaigner, and Tolga Sirlan, a geophysical engineer who runs a local business.
The Liberal Democrats have selected Anita Holloway, a legal administrator in a private firm in Rochester, and Sarah Manuel, head of professional standards for Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, two Rochester residents, as their candidates.
For the Green Party, Doug Bray, who lives in Rochester and works at BAE Systems, and Jeremy Spyby-Steanson, a long-time activist for the party, will be standing.
Reform UK has nominated John Vye and David Finch to stand.
The Heritage Party has selected Peter Burch, who also stood for the Rochester and Strood parliamentary seat at the general election in July.
Gillingham South
Labour’s Naushabah Khan is standing down. The candidates nominated to stand to take her council seat are:
Labour has put forward Liubov Nestorova, a local business owner who operates a delivery company.
The Conservative Party has nominated Saboor Ahmed, a local resident and restaurant owner.
The Liberal Democrat candidate is long-time member and activist Onyx Rist, who is a volunteer at Fort Amherst.
Trish Marchant is standing for the Green Party, a healthcare engineer who previously worked at Medway hospital as energy manager.
Reform UK has nominated Rizvi Rawoof, who stood for the parliamentary Gillingham and Rainham seat at the general election, coming third.
Peter Wheeler is standing on behalf of the Social Democratic Party, having been their candidate for the Gillingham and Rainham seat in the general election in July.
The Heritage Party candidate for Gillingham South is Roshan Bhunnoo.
Voting will take place on February 6. Both wards have been firmly Labour for some time, but dissatisfaction with the national government may draw some voters away from Labour – or make them decide to stay home.
The last full election for Medway Council was in May 2023, when the Labour group took control of the council for the first time in 20 years winning 33 of the 59 seats. With the by-elections called, Labour currently hold 30 seats – including two Labour councillors currently suspended while an investigation is on-going into an alleged incident at the group’s Christmas party in 2023.
If they win the three seats up for grabs, the group will retain its majority of seven – however if all three seats are lost it would reduce the majority to just one, as the group would hold 30 seats to the combined 29 of opposition parties.