The Green Party has gained the Guston, Kingsdown & St Margaret's-at-Cliffe seat on Dover District Council from the Conservatives, narrowly defeating Reform UK in a striking six-way by-election contest on the Kent coast.
Green candidate Ingrid Dodd won 28.8% of the vote, just ahead of Reform UK's James Defriend on 27.5%, according to the declared result reported by Election Maps UK.
The Conservatives, who had been defending the vacancy, fell to 17.1% — a drop of 16 percentage points compared with the ward's 2023 result — while Labour finished fourth on 14.6%.
Restore Britain took 10.7% on its first appearance in the ward, while independent candidate Graham Wanstall received 1.3%.
Full result
The reported vote shares were:
- Green Party — 28.8% (+2.7)
- Reform UK — 27.5% (new)
- Conservative — 17.1% (-16.0)
- Labour — 14.6% (-9.2)
- Restore Britain — 10.7% (new)
- Independent — 1.3% (new)
The Liberal Democrats, who received 9.0% in the previous comparable contest, and the Heritage Party, which had taken 7.9%, did not stand this time.
Until Dover District Council publishes the full declaration with raw vote totals and turnout, those percentage figures should be treated as the reported result rather than independently reconstructed official totals.
Green gain from Conservatives
The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Conservative councillor Martin Bates, who had represented the ward since the 2023 district elections.
Bates won 960 votes in 2023, with fellow Conservative Oliver Richardson also elected on 941 votes.
The Conservatives therefore entered the by-election defending one of two seats in a ward they had previously controlled comfortably.
Instead, David Hawkes saw the Conservative share fall to 17.1%, leaving the party in third place and handing the seat to the Greens.
Reform comes within touching distance
Reform UK came remarkably close to taking the seat on its first contest in the ward.
James Defriend secured 27.5%, only 1.3 percentage points behind the Greens.
The result shows Reform continuing to establish itself as a serious challenger in parts of Kent, but it also underlines how fragmented local contests can become when several parties on the right compete for the same electorate.
Restore Britain's 10.7% added another significant bloc of votes to the contest, while the Conservatives retained 17.1%.
Conservative vote collapses
The most dramatic movement in the result was the Conservative decline.
In 2023 the party's leading candidates recorded around one-third of the vote, with the Conservatives winning both available seats.
On Thursday, their share fell by 16 percentage points to 17.1%.
That will be a concerning result for Kemi Badenoch's party in a ward that had been one of its stronger local areas and in a district where the Conservatives remain the largest group on the council.
Labour also loses ground
Labour's Steve Wisbey finished fourth with 14.6%, down 9.2 points compared with the 2023 baseline.
The result comes despite Labour holding the Dover and Deal parliamentary constituency and running Dover District Council as a minority administration.
It suggests that the local contest did not produce the same favourable movement for Labour seen in some other council by-elections on the same night.
A divided political map in Dover
Dover District Council was already finely balanced before the vote.
Prior to the by-election, the Conservatives had 13 councillors, Labour 12 and independents and other groups six, with one vacancy.
The Green gain therefore changes the composition of a council where no party has an overall majority and where Labour operates a minority administration with support from independents.
The seat is especially symbolic because Guston, Kingsdown & St Margaret's-at-Cliffe lies in the Dover and Deal constituency, one of the most politically watched parts of the Kent coast because of its proximity to the Channel and the Port of Dover.
Ward had been Conservative territory
The Conservatives won both seats in Guston, Kingsdown & St Margaret's-at-Cliffe at the 2023 district elections.
Martin Bates topped the poll with 960 votes, or 33.7%, while Oliver Richardson followed with 941 votes, or 33.0%.
Green candidate John Lonsdale took 26.6%, while Labour candidates Margaret Cosin and Brynley Hawkins received 24.2% and 21.2% respectively.
That background makes the Green victory particularly notable: the party has converted a respectable second-place base into an outright by-election win while the Conservative vote has fallen sharply.
Another warning from the local ballot box
One council by-election cannot by itself establish a national trend, particularly when turnout is lower and candidate recognition can play a much greater role than in general elections.
But the Dover result contains several politically significant signals.
The Conservatives have lost a seat they previously held comfortably, Reform has come within little more than a percentage point of winning it, and Restore Britain has entered the contest with a double-digit share.
The Greens, meanwhile, have demonstrated that they can capitalise on a fragmented field and convert an existing local base into a council gain.
For the Conservatives, the result will be difficult to dismiss: in a ward they won outright only three years ago, their vote has effectively halved while rival parties have surged around them.