Copyright © Medway Elects 2024
Historic Authorities
Before Medway council was formed, residents in Medway were represented on either Gillingham borough council or Rochester-upon-Medway city council, and Kent county council. Between January 1973 and January 2020, residents in Medway were also represented in the European parliament, the European Union's legislative assembly.
The separate responsibilities of the district councils and the county council were passed to Medway's new unitary authority on 1 April 1998, at which point the district councils were abolished and Medway ceased to form part of the county council.
During the period of the UK's membership of the European Union, residents in Medway were represented in the European parliament. However, its members were not directly elected until 1979.
Although Medway is no longer represented by these authorities, as part of our commitment to building a complete electoral history for Medway we have recorded election results for each of these bodies together with their members' terms of office.
While we have attempted to verify the veracity of the data wherever possible, given the limited information which exists for the district and county councils, some of the information presented here might be missing or incomplete. We are continuing to work at improving the information presented in this section of Medway Elects and if you have any first-hand knowledge or resources which might assist us, please feel free to contact us.
Gillingham Borough Council
Gillingham borough council was formed in 1903 and incorporated the parish of Rainham from 1928. Together with Kent county council, the borough was responsible for providing local services to people within its boundaries.
Election results for Gillingham borough council are available from 1973. Between 1980 and 1998, only one-third of seats were contested at each election.
Councillors
Between 1973 and 1979, Gillingham borough council was comprised of 35 councillors, meaning a party needed at least 18 members for an overall majority. Between 1979 and 1998, the borough elected 42 councillors, meaning a party needed at least 22 members for an overall majority.
Political Control
| Control of the Council | From | To | |
| No overall control | April 1974 | May 1976 | |
| Conservative | May 1976 | May 1990 | |
| No overall control | May 1990 | May 1995 | |
| Liberal Democrats | May 1995 | March 1998 |
Leader of the Council
| Leader | From | To | |
| Unknown | Apr 1974 | May 1976 | |
| Michael Lewis | May 1976 | May 1990 | |
| Robert Sayer | May 1990 | Mar 1998 |
Wards
The following wards were represented on Gillingham borough council between 1979 and 1998:
Click on the name of a ward above to see councillor history and election results. To see historical information for old wards, please go here.
Elections
The following elections to Gillingham borough council took place between 1973 and 1998:
To view the results for each election, click on the election date above.
Rochester-upon-Medway City Council
The borough of Medway was formed on 1 April 1974 incorporating the borough of Chatham, the city of Rochester and the majority of the district of Strood Rural. The borough applied to inherit Rochester's city status, but this was refused and instead Rochester retained its city status independently under letters patent granted on 18 March 1974.
On 3 December 1979 the district changed its name to the borough of Rochester-upon-Medway and city status was transferred to the whole borough on 25 January 1982. The authority is mostly referred to as "the city" on these pages for ease. Together with Kent county council, the borough, and later city, was responsible for providing local services to people within its boundaries.
When the city merged with the borough of Gillingham in 1998, the outgoing council failed to appoint charter trustees and so Rochester's almost 800 year-long city status was lost.
Election results for Rochester-upon-Medway city council are available from 1973 when a shadow authority was elected.
Councillors
Between 1974 and 1979, Medway borough council was comprised of 59 councillors, meaning a party needed at least 31 members for an overall majority. Between 1979 and 1998, the borough, and later the city of Rochester-upon-Medway, elected 50 councillors, meaning a party needed at least 26 members for an overall majority.
Political Control
| Control of the Council | From | To | |
| Labour | April 1974 | May 1976 | |
| Conservative | May 1976 | May 1991 | |
| No overall control | May 1991 | May 1995 | |
| Labour | May 1995 | March 1998 |
Leader of the Council
| Leader | From | To | |
| Doug MacInnes | Unknown | May 1991 | |
| John Shaw | May 1991 | Mar 1998 |
Wards
The following wards were represented on Rochester-upon-Medway city council between 1979 and 1998:
Click on the name of a ward above to see councillor history and election results. To see historical information for old wards, please go here.
Elections
The following elections to Rochester-upon-Medway city council took place between 1973 and 1998:
To view the results for each election, click on the election date above.
Kent County Council
Kent county council was formed on 1 April 1974 incorporating the existing administrative county of Kent and the county borough of Canterbury. Together with Gillingham borough council and Rochester-upon-Medway city council, the county was responsible for providing local services to people within its boundaries.
Election results for Kent county council are available from 1973 when a shadow authority was elected.
Councillors
Between 1974 and 1981, Kent county council was comprised of 103 councillors, 17 of which were from Medway, meaning a party needed at least 52 members for an overall majority. Between 1981 and 1998, the county elected 99 councillors, 15 of which were from Medway, meaning a party needed at least 50 members for an overall majority.
The graphic below includes all county councillors, but only members for areas now covered by Medway council are included on this website.
Political Control
| Control of the Council | From | To | |
| Conservative | April 1974 | May 1993 | |
| No overall control | May 1993 | May 1997 | |
| Conservative | May 1997 | Present |
Leader of the Council
| Leader | From | To | |
| Sir John Grugeon DL | Apr 1974 | 1982 | |
| Bobby Neame CBE DL | 1982 | 1984 | |
| Tony Hart CBE | 1984 | 1992 | |
| Brenda Trench | 1992 | May 1993 | |
| John Ovenden | May 1993 | May 1997 | |
| The Rt Hon. Sandy Bruce-Lockhart OBE | May 1997 | Oct 2005 | |
| Sir Paul Carter CBE | Oct 2005 | Oct 2019 | |
| Roger Gough | Oct 2019 | Present |
Although the borough of Gillingham and the city of Rochester-upon-Medway were removed from the control of Kent county council in 1998, the council continues to represent the rest of the county. Election results are not recorded on Medway Elects from 1998 onwards.
Electoral Divisions
Medway elected representatives to Kent county council in the following electoral between 1981 and 1998:
Click on the name of an electoral division above to see councillor history and election results. To see historical information for old electoral divisions, please go here.
Elections
The following elections to Kent county council took place in Medway between 1973 and 1998:
To view the results for each election, click on the election date above.
European Parliament
The European parliament is the directly-elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. It shares its legislative function with the Council of the European Union and the European commission.
Voters in the United Kingdom elected members of the European parliament (MEPs) between its formation as an elected assembly in July 1979 and the UK's departure from the European Union on 31 January 2020.
Elections to the European Parliament
The following elections to the European parliament took place in Medway between 1979 and 2020:
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South East England 23 May 2019 |
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| Brexit party | 4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 3 | |
| Green party | 1 | |
| Conservative | 1 | |
| Labour | 1 |
To view the results for each election, click on the election date above.
Unfortunately, the information about candidates within our data sources for some of these historic elections is limited. We are trying to match candidates to individuals on our primary database so that we can provide as much historic information as possible, but please note this is a work in progress. If you have any information which could assist us in this, please feel free to get in contact with us.
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