2021 Kent County Council election explained
| Election Name: | 2021 Kent County Council election |
| Country: | Kent |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 2017 Kent County Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2017 |
| Next Election: | 2025 Kent County Council election |
| Next Year: | 2025 |
| Seats For Election: | All 81 seats to Kent County Council |
| Majority Seats: | 41 |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 67 seats |
| Seats1: | 62 |
| Seat Change1: | 5 |
| Popular Vote1: | 217,904 |
| Percentage1: | 49.1% |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 5 seats |
| Seats2: | 7 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 90,920 |
| Percentage2: | 20.5% |
| Party3: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election3: | 7 seats |
| Seats3: | 6 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 49,448 |
| Percentage3: | 11.1% |
| Party4: | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Last Election4: | 1 seat |
| Seats4: | 4 |
| Seat Change4: | 3 |
| Popular Vote4: | 61,355 |
| Percentage4: | 13.8% |
| Party5: | Swale Independents |
| Last Election5: | N/A |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 7,109 |
| Percentage5: | 1.6% |
| Party6: | Residents Association |
| Last Election6: | 1 seat |
| Seats6: | 1 |
| Popular Vote6: | 2,155 |
| Percentage6: | 0.5% |
| Map Size: | 400px |
| Council control |
| Posttitle: | Council control after election |
| Before Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| After Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
Elections to Kent County Council were held on 6 May 2021, alongside other local elections.[1]
81 councillors were elected from 71 electoral divisions.
Summary
Election result
|-
Results by district
Ashford
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 6 | 1 | 16,859 | 57.3 | +2.2 |
| | 1 | 1 | 4,899 | 16.7 | +10.9 |
| | 0 | 1 | 5,140 | 17.5 | +3.4 |
| | 0 | 1 | 2,240 | 7.6 | –7.9 |
| | 0 | | 285 | 1.0 | span style="color:grey" | N/A | |
District results
Canterbury
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 5 | 2 | 17,221 | 43.8 | –1.4 |
| | 2 | 2 | 11,348 | 28.8 | +7.5 |
| | 1 | | 6,188 | 15.7 | –4.8 |
| | 0 | | 4,327 | 11.0 | +5.3 |
| | 0 | | 263 | 0.7 | span style="color:grey" | N/A | |
District results
Dartford
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 4 | 1 | 12,211 | 52.9 | –0.7 |
| | 1 | 1 | 7,101 | 30.8 | +4.9 |
| | 1 | | 2,155 | 9.3 | +4.4 |
| | 0 | | 1,157 | 5.0 | +4.3 |
| | 0 | | 460 | 2.0 | span style="color:grey" | N/A | |
District results
Dover
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 7 | | 20,540 | 50.6 | +1.8 |
| | 0 | | 11,834 | 29.1 | –1.3 |
| | 0 | | 4,216 | 10.4 | +6.4 |
| | 0 | | 2,084 | 5.1 | –1.8 |
| | 0 | | 1,609 | 4.0 | span style="color:green" | +3.6 |
| | 0 | | 331 | 0.8 | span style="color:grey" | N/A | |
District results
Folkestone and Hythe
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 5 | | 12,920 | 47.1 | +4.4 |
| | 1 | 1 | 5,465 | 19.9 | +8.0 |
| | 0 | 1 | 3,935 | 14.3 | –0.6 |
| | 0 | | 3,024 | 11.0 | –1.8 |
| | 0 | | 561 | 2.0 | span style="color:grey" | N/A |
| | 0 | | 498 | 1.8 | span style="color:red" | –11.1 |
| | 0 | | 485 | 1.8 | span style="color:red" | –2.6 |
| | 0 | | 309 | 1.1 | span style="color:grey" | N/A |
| | 0 | | 144 | 0.5 | span style="color:green" | +0.3 |
| | 0 | | 81 | 0.3 | span style="color:grey" | N/A | |
District results
The election in Elham Valley was deferred to 17 June 2021 due to the death of a candidate after the close of nominations.
Gravesham
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 4 | 1 | 18,793 | 51.2 | +4.3 |
| | 1 | 1 | 14,006 | 38.1 | +1.6 |
| | 0 | | 2,033 | 5.5 | +0.6 |
| | 0 | | 1,895 | 5.2 | +1.8 | |
District results
Maidstone
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 7 | 1 | 24,293 | 48.1 | +0.2 |
| | 2 | 1 | 10,150 | 20.1 | –11.1 |
| | 0 | | 7,570 | 15.0 | +6.1 |
| | 0 | | 6,340 | 12.6 | +7.8 |
| | 0 | | 1,903 | 3.8 | +3.5 |
| | 0 | | 250 | 0.5 | N/A | |
District results
Sevenoaks
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 5 | 1 | 17,662 | 56.3 | –6.8 |
| | 1 | 1 | 5,468 | 17.4 | +1.6 |
| | 0 | | 4,318 | 13.8 | +8.0 |
| | 0 | | 3,105 | 9.9 | –1.2 |
| | 0 | | 837 | 2.7 | +2.4 | |
District results
Swale
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 4 | 2 | 18,424 | 46.4 | +2.9 |
| | 1 | 1 | 7,109 | 17.9 | N/A |
| | 1 | 1 | 4,944 | 12.5 | +8.7 |
| | 1 | | 3,686 | 9.3 | –1.6 |
| | 0 | | 4,831 | 12.2 | –9.3 |
| | 0 | | 442 | 1.1 | –0.8 |
| | 0 | | 252 | 0.6 | N/A | |
District results
Thanet
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 5 | | 19,994 | 45.5 | –0.3 |
| | 2 | | 10,797 | 24.6 | –1.3 |
| | 0 | | 8,558 | 19.5 | +17.5 |
| | 0 | | 1,861 | 4.2 | N/A |
| | 0 | | 1,771 | 4.0 | span style="color:red" | –3.7 |
| | 0 | | 652 | 1.5 | span style="color:red" | –1.5 |
| | 0 | | 216 | 0.5 | span style="color:grey" | N/A |
| | 0 | | 78 | 0.2 | span style="color:grey" | N/A |
| | 0 | | 23 | 0.1 | span style="color:grey" | N/A | |
District results
Tonbridge and Malling
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 4 | 2 | 23,355 | 49.3 | –8.7 |
| | 2 | 2 | 13,584 | 28.7 | +20.8 |
| | 1 | | 5,063 | 10.7 | –7.8 |
| | 0 | | 3,920 | 8.3 | –2.3 |
| | 0 | | 1,441 | 3.0 | N/A | |
District results
Tunbridge Wells
District summary
| Party | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | +/- |
|---|
| | 6 | | 15,632 | 43.8 | –9.1 |
| | 0 | | 7,741 | 21.7 | span style="color:green" | +4.5 |
| | 0 | | 6,003 | 16.8 | +2.9 |
| | 0 | | 4,182 | 11.7 | +8.5 |
| | 0 | | 1,337 | 3.7 | N/A |
| | 0 | | 429 | 1.2 | span style="color:red" | –3.6 |
| | 0 | | 321 | 0.9 | span style="color:red" | –5.5 |
| | 0 | | 74 | 0.2 | span style="color:grey" | N/A | |
District results
Changes 2021–2025
Maidstone Central
- Trevor Shonk, elected as a Conservative, joined the Thanet Independents in March 2024.[2]
- Mike Whiting was suspended from the Conservatives in March 2024, after which he sat as an indepedendent.[3]
Notes and References
- Web site: Kent County Council election. 2021-02-03. www.kent.gov.uk.
- News: Austin . Ben . Kent County Council's Trevor Shonk leaves Conservative Party to join Thanet Independents . 12 May 2024 . Kent Online . 9 March 2024.
- News: Finlay . Simon . Cllr Mike Whiting has been suspended from the Conservative Party after drink driving conviction . 12 May 2024 . Kent Online . 26 March 2024.
