Liberal Democrat councillor forms new independent group – of two

Faversham's Davington Priory ward representative Councillor Mike Henderson, who is now the only Liberal Democrat on Swale Borough Council, has formed an independent group with Monique Bonney, who retained her West Downs (Bapchild, Bredgar, Milstead, and Rodmersham) seat on May 5. 

Councillor Bonney, the only Swale council member without a party allegiance, first won her seat in 2008 as an independent campaigning against expansion plans for Kent Science Park. 

Faversham bucks the trend

Councillor Henderson, the leader of the new grouping, retained the confidence of Faversham voters in the May 5 Swale Council elections while, locally and nationally, support for his party fell away dramatically.

In England, the Liberal Democrats lost control of nine councils; their total number of seats now stands at 1,098, with 748 Liberal Democrat seats lost on May 5. 

Councillor Henderson's former Swale colleagues, Elvie Lowe and Dave Banks both lost their seats – though Mr Banks's defeat came down to luck of the draw, resolving a tied result after six recounts.

 Councillor Henderson has been a Liberal Democrat for more than 40 years. He was a Faversham town councillor from 1988 to 2004 (including a stint as mayor in 1995-96) and has been a Swale borough councillor from 1989 to 2000 and again since 2008. 

Kent Liberal Democrats hit hard

His party suffered heavy losses across Kent, losing four seats in Medway, five in Ashford, six seats in Canterbury. Councillor Alex Perkins, who was leader of Canterbury's district council from 2002 to 2005, is certain his party's candidates in Kent elections were punished at the polls for failings at national level and singles out Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg for criticism. 

He said: "The local elections on May 5 were, for most people, the first real chance they've had to demonstrate their opinion of the coalition government. 

There's been plenty of letter-writing, hand-wringing, ranting, rioting, and a whole plethora of opinions in the media, but this was the first time since the coalition's formation that a cross on a ballot paper could be used to register approval or otherwise of the government. 

"So May 5 was never going to be a good day to be a Liberal Democrat.

Referendum clouds the issue

"However, it gets worse. Nick Clegg demanded that the AV referendum take place on the same day as council elections. So Liberal Democrats across the county weren't even given the chance to stand or fall merely on the basis of their own record in local government. 

"However well they'd served their communities, thanks to Nick Clegg poisoning the well of British politics, for most Lib Dems it was rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find, the moment the first balls were bowled, that their bats had been broken before the game by the team captain.

"Of course, a 'local election' is supposed to be just that: a chance for people to give their verdict on the record of their local council over the previous four years. But let's face it, in reality it's never that simple. Doubtless some people did vote on the basis of local issues. But a great many voted on how they felt about the coalition – and others were motivated by the referendum."