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  "path": "/politics/reform-uk-kent-news-by-election-labour-conservatives-greens",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-08T09:58:05.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Membership",
    "‘We got things wrong!’ Top Tory stresses party ‘changing our behaviour’ after lax defence spending",
    "‘Utterly embarrassing!’ Keir Starmer lambasted for ‘jumping on the bandwagon’",
    "Keir Starmer ‘desperately trying to regain credibility’ after Iran ceasefire, says James Cleverly",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nReform UK is looking to maintain its grip on a Kent council seat ahead of a crunch by-election battle this Thursday.\n\nLabour, the Tories and the Greens are among some of the competitors looking to snatch the turquoise seat from Nigel Farage's grasp.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nNow, every major political party is enthusiastically vying for the vote in the seaside seat of Cliftonville with the next round of major Local Elections being held in just a few weeks' time.\n\nIn 2024, when Mr Farage's party stormed to victory, Taylor secured 1,922 votes (40 per cent) with Labour's Peter Mousely and the Tories' Lesley Ann Game taking home 22 per cent and 20 per cent of the votes, respectively.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNational polls currently carry Reform UK in good stead ahead of Thursday's vote, but it remains all to play for.\n\nThe Tories, Labour, Reform UK, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats are all fielding candidates in a bid to fill the vacant seat.\n\nOn a parliamentary level, the constituency is currently filled by Labour's Polly Billington.\n\nWhile Thanet District Council is controlled by Sir Keir's Starmer's party, the wider Kent County Council is controlled by Reform UK.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n### Cliftonville (Kent)\n\n\n\n\nIn Kent, Nigel Farage's party is defending their seat in the Clifton ward in Margate after a former councillor was jailed earlier this year.\n\nLast year, Daniel Taylor, 35, won the seat after the party turned the true-blue Tory seat turquoise, flipping 57 of the 81 seats to Reform UK.\n\nBut the councillor was suspended from the party following his arrest, continuing his role sitting as an independent on the local authority.\n\nHe subsequently pleaded guilty to controlling behaviour towards his wife, and was ousted from Reform UK as a result.\n\n### POLITICS LATEST:\n\n\n\n\n  * ‘We got things wrong!’ Top Tory stresses party ‘changing our behaviour’ after lax defence spending\n  * ‘Utterly embarrassing!’ Keir Starmer lambasted for ‘jumping on the bandwagon’\n  * Keir Starmer ‘desperately trying to regain credibility’ after Iran ceasefire, says James Cleverly\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n### THE FULL LIST OF CANDIDATES STANDING IN CLIFTONVILLE:\n\n\n\n\nBack in February, he lost his council seat after being sentenced to 12 months in prison at Margate Magistrates' Court.\n\nAfter the sentencing, a Reform UK spokesman said there was \"no place in Reform for those who perpetrate violence against women and girls\".\n\nHe added the party had thrown Taylor out after he pleaded guilty.\n\nThe council confirmed a by-election would be held in the ward within 35 working days.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAs it stands, Reform UK's new candidate for the ward, Marc Rattigan, must fend off his electoral rivals in the Green Party, as well as Labour and the Tories, to win the seat.\n\nHere's the list of everyone who is standing in the crunch vote:\n\n  * Charlie Leys - Conservative and Unioninst Party\n  * Joanne Janet Bright - Labour Party\n  * Lucy Gray - Independent\n  * Marc Lee Rattigan - Reform UK\n  * Mo Shafaei - Liberal Democrats\n  * Rob Yates - Green Party\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Reform UK looks to bat off rivals ahead of crunch Kent vote after councillor jailed"
}