Borough of Maidstone

The Borough of Maidstone is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. It is named after its largest settlement of Maidstone, the county town of Kent, which is also where the council is based. The borough also includes surrounding rural areas.

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the municipal borough of Maidstone with the rural districts of Maidstone and Hollingbourne, under the Local Government Act 1972.

Geography

The borough covers an area generally to the east and south of the town of Maidstone: as far north as the M2 motorway; east down the M20 to Lenham; south to a line including Staplehurst and Headcorn; and west towards Tonbridge. It lies between the North Downs and the Weald, and covers the central part of the county. The M20 motorway crosses it from west to east, as does the High Speed 1 railway.

Geologically, the Greensand Ridge lies to the south of the town. The very fine sand provides a good source for glass-making. The clay vale beyond, through which flow the three rivers which meet at Yalding (the Medway, the Beult and the Teise), and the chalk North Downs all provide raw materials for paper- and cement-making; which are also local industries.

Governance

Maidstone Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council. With the exception of the core of the Maidstone built up area, the rest of the borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2023. Following the 2024 election, a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Greens and four of the independent councillors formed to run the council, led by Green councillor Stuart Jeffery.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been held by the following parties:

Party in control		Years
	1974–1976
	1976–1983
	1983–2008
	2008–2014
	2014–2021
	2021–2023
	2023–present

Leadership

The role of Mayor of Maidstone is largely ceremonial, usually being held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2007 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Fran Wilson		2007	2008
Chris Garland		2008	May 2014
Annabelle Blackmore		7 Jun 2014	May 2015
Fran Wilson		23 May 2015	May 2018
Martin Cox		19 May 2018	May 2021
David Burton		22 May 2021	May 2024
Stuart Jeffrey		18 May 2024

Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was as follows:

Party		Councillors
	13
	12
	10
	6
	1
	4
	3
Total		49

Four of the independent councillors sit with the Greens as the 'Green and Independent Alliance', which forms the council's administration with the Liberal Democrats. The other two independents sit with local party the Fant & Oakwood Independents as the 'Independent and Fant & Oakwood Independents Group'. The next election is due in May 2028.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2024, 49 councillors have been elected from 26 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

File:Maidstone Gateway, King Street, Maidstone - geograph.org.uk - 4404945.jpg

Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone: Council's offices.

Council meetings are held at Maidstone Town Hall in the High Street. The council has its main offices at Maidstone House (formerly called Maidstone Gateway) on King Street in the centre of Maidstone.

Parishes

The third tier of local government is the civil parish; in Maidstone some of the parishes have neither a parish council nor a parish meeting, as indicated (1):

• Barming
• Bearsted
• Bicknor (1)
• Boughton Malherbe
• Boughton Monchelsea
• Boxley
• Bredhurst
• Broomfield and Kingswood
• Chart Sutton
• Collier Street
• Coxheath
• Detling
• Downswood
• East Farleigh
• East Sutton
• Frinsted (1)
• Harrietsham
• Headcorn
• Hollingbourne
• Hucking (1)
• Hunton
• Langley
• Leeds
• Lenham
• Linton
• Loose
• Marden
• Nettlestead
• Otham
• Otterden (1)
• Staplehurst
• Stockbury
• Sutton Valence
• Teston
• Thurnham
• Tovil
• Ulcombe
• West Farleigh
• Wichling (1)
• Wormshill (1)
• Yalding

Transport

Water

The River Medway was the earliest form of transport through the area. It was navigable for cargo-carrying craft as far upstream as Tonbridge, and it was only in the 19th century that the railways brought any change. More recently, various works have been carried out to control the frequent flooding in the clay vale upstream of Maidstone.

Roads

Maidstone, as its importance warranted, has been the hub of roads for many centuries. It lies very close to the Pilgrims' Way; and two Roman roads met south of the town: one from Rochester to Hastings the other branching off to the East Kent coast and Dover.

In the 18th century came the turnpiked roads. One of the earliest in the county – that to Rochester and Chatham – was opened in 1728.

In modern times, two motorways – the M2 and the M20 – pass to the far north of the borough and just north of the town centre of Maidstone respectively.

Railways

The earliest line through Kent was built by the South Eastern Railway. It was not, however, built to pass through Maidstone: instead, a station was built at Paddock Wood railway station, then named Maidstone Road, some six miles away. It was only in the period between 1844 (when that main line was connected by a branch line to Maidstone) and 1884 that Maidstone became a hub once more, although with local trains only, to Strood, Ashford and via Swanley Junction to London.

Media

Television

The area is served by the regional news programmes:

• BBC South East Today
• ITV News Meridian

Radio

Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:

• BBC Radio Kent
• Heart South
• Gold Radio
• KMFM Maidstone

Newspapers

The area is served by the local newspaper, Kent Messenger.

References

Video clips

• Maidstone Council YouTube channel