Dartford Conservatives

08/09/2026

08/09/2026

Proposals to merge smaller councils to form larger authorities have been paused or withdrawn in a number of areas.

07/09/2026

🚨 MEDWAY MERGER 'PAUSED' 🚨

Statement from Cllr Jeremy Kite 👇🏻

"From the very first moment that this self-serving government announced its plans to reorganise local government we called it out for what it was - a hugely expensive waste of time that would rob Britain of just about the only tier of government that actually meant something to local people. It would, and was cynically designed to, hand control to a centralised political class and bigger, more distant government.

The Government forced and bullied councillors every step of the way - setting impossible deadlines and forcing us to choose from the least-worse of a range of bad options or have our silence described as agreement.

Here in Dartford the local Labour Party saw their chance to stitch-up the future of our historic town by splitting the rural communities from the urban ones - a truly despicable proposal that should shame all those who supported it. Our petition made clear just how unpopular it was. We must never forget those who took our town’s history for granted.

And just a few weeks ago, local labour leader Jonathan Hawkes and Dartford’s Labour MP Jim Dickson both celebrated the announcement that the Kent’s existing network of councils were to be abolished and took to social media to declare how wonderful the reorganisation of Local Government would be.

Today, those plans and their credibility are in tatters. The nonsense they spouted just a few weeks ago has now been discredited by their own government and party who have suddenly realised what we all knew from the start - that Local Government Reorganisation was a dead duck that would never work. This hopeless, hapless Tik-Tok government has wasted millions of pounds and paralysed the entire local government community for more than two years. Plenty of Labour activists who loyally toed the party line have been shown to be as foolish and they are unprincipled.

In the weeks since the Government made its rushed and ultimately wrong announcement that Dartford Borough Council was to be abolished, my colleagues and I have been met with a huge outpouring of shock and sadness from local residents who, regardless of their political affiliations, could recognise a good, well run council from a cynical one. Many people have approached me to say how sorry they were that Dartford was to lose an excellent council and hard-working councillors.

I’m enormously grateful to everyone.

Today’s announcement of a “pause” in local government reorganisation must be swiftly followed by the recognition that it is now permanently shelved.

Now, we will carry on with the job of delivering great services, brilliant family events, amazing facilities and the lowest council tax in Kent - without the distraction of Labour’s ridiculous ‘smash and grab’ on our local democracy. They have been humiliated and rightly so.

Thank you to everyone who signed our petition and fought alongside us to show that bad decisions from a bad government CAN be defeated.

Jeremy Kite

Leader of the Council"

31/08/2026

29/08/2026

Next Saturday, Dartford’s annual commemoration of the Battle of Britain will return to Brewery Square.

Join us opposite Dartford War Memorial to see a full-size Spitfire replica, along with wartime singers to commemorate the bravery and the sacrifice of The Few, who defended Britain valiantly 86 years ago.

Don’t forget that national Battle of Britain Day is on Tuesday, 15 September.

29/08/2026

♨️ Great BBQ at The Malt Shovel 🍺

Thank you to our members and volunteers who came along!

24/08/2026

The biggest shake-up of Kent’s councils in half a century will cost taxpayers an initial £12 million.

23/08/2026

89% of residents say KCC has not done enough to inform and consult them over the Rowhill School sale.

That is overwhelming!

Earlier this year, we asked residents whether they thought Kent County Council had done a good enough job of keeping them informed and consulted about the proposed sale of the Rowhill School site.

89% said no.

Just 10.3% said yes, with 0.7% unsure.

For a site that is so important to Wilmington, we all deserve to know what is happening and to have a genuine opportunity to have their say about its future.

We will make sure these results form part of our case to KCC as we continue pushing for community use and other realistic alternatives to be fully explored before any sale goes ahead.

This is about making sure that before an important public asset is sold, every reasonable option has been considered and the community most affected has been heard.

Rowhill is a valuable public asset. Its future should not be decided without the community having a proper say.

21/08/2026

Great to catch up with our members, volunteers and Councillors at the Adalaat Lounge earlier this week.

Thank you to everyone who contributes and supports our efforts!

It's never a bad time to sign up - link in the comments!