Election of Leader of the Council
Full council, 20 May 2026: a named vote on the motion.
For 25, Against 6, Abstained 5.
Party in overall control of the council on the date: Liberal Democrats. Each councillor's party is the one the council recorded for them at the time.
For (25)
- Andrew Wallace (Liberal Democrats)
- Ash Shukla (Liberal Democrats)
- Ben Chapelard (Liberal Democrats)
- Christopher Digby (Liberal Democrats)
- Christopher Hall (Liberal Democrats)
- Corinna Keefe (Liberal Democrats)
- Courtney Souper (Liberal Democrats)
- David Osborne (Liberal Democrats)
- Don Kent (Liberal Democrats)
- Gavin Barrass (Liberal Democrats)
- Hugh Patterson (Liberal Democrats)
- Ian Standing (Liberal Democrats)
- Jamie Johnson (Liberal Democrats)
- Justine Rutland (Liberal Democrats)
- Kimberley Johnson (Liberal Democrats)
- Mark Ellis (Liberal Democrats)
- Mark Munday (Liberal Democrats)
- Martin Brice (Liberal Democrats)
- Matt Lowe (Liberal Democrats)
- Pamela Wilkinson (Liberal Democrats)
- Richard Brown (Liberal Democrats)
- Rob Wormington (Liberal Democrats)
- Simon Davidson (Liberal Democrats)
- Ukonu Obasi (Liberal Democrats)
- Matthew Sankey (Tunbridge Wells Alliance)
Against (6)
- David Knight (Conservative)
- Lynne Darrah (Conservative)
- Thomas Mobbs (Conservative)
- Tom Dawlings (Conservative)
- Dianne Hill (Labour)
- Hugo Pound (Labour)
Abstained (5)
- Alexander Ellison (Conservative)
- Ms Beverley Palmer (Conservative)
- Jayne Sharratt (Labour)
- Astra Birch (Liberal Democrats)
- Ellen Neville (Tunbridge Wells Alliance)
From the minutes
cess and to bring about a new democratic body to represent the town. He would also ensure that the Council continued to deliver the improvements the residents expected. A recorded vote was requested: Members who voted for the motion: Councillors Chapelard, Ellis, Wilkinson, Rutland, Hall, Lowe, Wormington, Barrass, Brice, Brown, Davidson, Digby, Johnson J, Johnson K, Keefe, Kent, Munday, Obasi, Osborne, Patterson, Shukla, Souper, Standing, Wallace, Sankey (25) Members who voted against the motion: Councillors Darrah, Dawlings, Knight, Mobbs, Hill, Pound (6) Members who abstained from voting: Councillors Birch, Ellison, Sharratt, Neville, Palmer (5) RESOLVED – That Councillor Chapelard be elected the Leader of the Council for the period ending on the date of the Annual Meeting 2030 in accorda
The item in the council's own minutes. Names are matched to the councillors listed at the meeting. The names of people who aren't councillors are removed.