Kent Politics Show Special: Election 2024 (00:16-01:00)
Watch back KMTV's live coverage of the UK's 2024 General Election results.
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00:00Hello and welcome back everybody to the KMTV studio. Right, joining me in the studio now
00:15we have a full room, full room of guests here. Okay, let me introduce everybody. So of course
00:20we have Kevin Mills from Dover District Council, the leader there, and Maxwell Harrison, Reform
00:25Mid Kent candidate, and Paul Bartlett, Ashford Borough Council, Kent County Council as well.
00:35Thank you very much. I've got a lot of notes in front of me, I'm getting through them all,
00:39the times are all changing, it is the morning, so it will go easy on me. Right, we'll jump
00:46straight in with Reform first. The exit poll, tell me your reaction first, the national
00:52picture, then we'll go into the Kent picture. I think it's absolutely marvellous. It just
00:56shows you that ordinary people, when we come together, we can create a political shock.
01:01And all the polls said we'll get between four and seven, it's coming to 13 and I think we'll
01:07get more than that tonight. I'm not saying beyond 50, but I think we will get more seats
01:11than the 13 that we've been predicted. Absolutely brilliant and I think we've spited both the
01:17Tories and the Labour. And what about the Kent picture here in the county? I think we
01:20are absolutely going to half Conservative majorities here for sure. I think when we
01:25look at Kent, I think we are absolutely at the heels of the Conservative Party because
01:30ordinary Tories, traditional Tories, can see that actually we are the only alternative
01:34now and I've been absolutely enjoying the campaign, going out and about, speaking to
01:38people and I think this is just the beginning. And Kevin, we'll come to you. Much of the
01:44same question, your reaction to that exit poll for Kent? Well, I saw it just as I left
01:49to come up here, minus the roadworks there. So what they're predicting, 410 for Labour,
01:54which is good. We always knew it would be good, it was good on the doorstep, it's been
01:57good all day today. There's an awful lot of varied... It's the first time I've had a disillusioned
02:03Tories actually stopping me in the street and saying they voted Labour. So this is probably
02:08going to be a hallmark moment tonight. I can see the Tories imploding, to be quite honest.
02:15I can see a lot of them jumping ship to reform to save their own skins, particularly when
02:19it comes to KCC elections next year. Let's face it, I'm well aware of the number of Conservatives
02:24that went to watch Farage, so lack of loyalty to their party there. So I think part of me
02:30just says I'll sit back on the sidelines and watch the fight. And why do you think Dover's
02:34gone Labour despite the defection? Well, we won the Labour seat in May last year at the
02:41council. So I think we've been going that way for a while. So let's put aside Natalie
02:48Elphick joining the Labour party. Tonight I think we'll actually see a proper Labour
02:53MP elected for Dover, and that's because people are fed up. And Natalie Elphick celebrating
02:58somewhere? I don't know where Natalie Elphick is. She can send me a pint down if she wants
03:03to. And Paul, your reaction to that exit poll? Well, it's no surprise because the polls
03:17have been saying what the exit poll has also shown, and the early results. So I don't think
03:24there's any surprise at all. And what it's taught and needs to teach the Conservative
03:29party is that the electorate do not like divided parties. We have now a history of
03:39five years of infighting in the party, and it's now time for us to come together as a
03:44party in order to show that we are a credible opposition to the likely Labour government
03:51that will be imposed tomorrow. A very difficult night for Damien Green, one of the most senior
03:57MPs to lose a former Deputy PM. That's got to be a shock for Ashford. Well, it is. It's
04:05going to be a big change, and of course all of this is going to be a big change, and how
04:08we react as Conservatives in Kent will be a show of our mettle. I mean, we have to come
04:15together as continuing representatives of our community, working with the new government
04:23in order to ensure that we get the adequate resources. Now, there's been years and years
04:29of underfunding of local government, and what's been really disappointing throughout the campaign
04:35from both parties is their lack of the conversation on how they're going to deal with local government
04:42in the future. And lack of appearances here in Kent, in Ashford, to support Damien Green?
04:47Well, of course, this is right. I mean, we need to come together. Where was he? Where
04:51was Rishi Sunak? Richmond, I believe. Not visiting Ashford? Not supporting? No, he didn't
04:57come down to Ashford, and there we are. Oh, Kent. Kent, at all. He didn't come down here.
05:02Oh, I thought he was in Chatham once. Now, we had the Labour campaign launched at Gillingham
05:08football stadium round the corner. So, James Cleverley as well, he came to East Kent, but
05:16no Rishi Sunak. Oh, well, there we are. Do you think that would have made a huge difference?
05:21That's not my question to answer, I suppose. That's for the public, for those people that
05:25have casted their votes as well, and you joining us here. Are you proud of the way he's run
05:30the campaign? I know you mentioned there that it's been slightly disappointing. Well, no,
05:33I think that what both parties have done is they've failed to deliver on a vision.
05:42And George H.W. Bush, George Bush Senior, said it's the vision thing. And I think both
05:50Starmer and Rishi Sunak really failed to capitalise on what is great in this country and what
05:59opportunities that we have in the future. And I think it was a great shame that we had,
06:04for example, the fastest growing economy in the G7. You didn't hear about that. And it was
06:12that the Conservatives were not playing to their strengths. We've come through the pandemic.
06:19We've come through the cost of living crisis. And I think that very shortly, we're going to
06:25see interest rates coming down. Inflation is now down to 2%. But we really didn't hear about the
06:34vision for the future from either of the two parties. And there's so much great things going
06:41on in this country. We really need our politicians to be out there telling the world just how
06:47wonderful it is to do business in the UK. Maxwell, we'll come back to you. A question
06:51for all of you, but Maxwell, we'll start with you. I haven't heard much about Clacton yet,
06:55but what will the Houses of Parliament look like if Nigel Farage is in it? What will that look like?
07:02When Nigel Farage wins his seat in Clacton, and I cannot wait for that moment, let me tell you.
07:08Look what he did in the European Parliament for all those 20 years. I mean, he single-handedly,
07:12in my opinion, led this nation to leave the European Union. When he joined the European
07:17Parliament, it was a fringe idea, Euroscepticism, this idea that we'd ever leave the EU. And over
07:21the course of 20 years, the British public eventually agreed with him. And I think he
07:28is going to go into Westminster and absolutely tear the place down. And they don't want it.
07:32The media, the political class, they are absolutely terrified because giving Nigel a voice
07:37in Westminster now, it is going to be drummed into every house in this country. And I think
07:43it is the very beginning for a reformed UK, actually. It is fantastic news. I can't wait
07:47for that result. I have the same question to you. I can see you thinking away there, Kevin.
07:51Well, I'm trying to work out what my colleague from the Conservatives said. You know, we've
07:55failed. Well, if Labour take 410 seats, that's a hell of a failure. And I'll take that any day
07:59of the week, particularly with the Tory wipeout. So, you know, I'll accept that as a failure.
08:04Regarding Nigel Farage, I mean, he'd probably do the same as he did in Europe, take a lot of money
08:08and expenses and still keep turning up. But he didn't in the fisheries area, I understand.
08:12To say the least. I mean, you know, if he turns up, he turns up. He says what he says. I mean,
08:17I think eventually the British people will see through him because he's not anti-establishment,
08:22he's establishment through and through. Because I don't think any of us went to Dulwich College
08:25or worked in the commodities market or even banked with coots. So, you know, at the end
08:30of the day, I don't think he's down with the workers as such. I mean, he likes a pint,
08:34he likes a cigarette. Well, I know a lot of people that like a pint. But at the end of the day,
08:39the election results have yet to come in. I mean, I was more interested when you said
08:44about Ashford, you know, if he loses his seat, Damien Green, which, you know, yet again,
08:49I would think is a fantastic result. You know, that will send shockwaves through the Conservative
08:54Party. But, you know, 410, I wouldn't put that down as a failure. And Paul, the same question
09:01to you then, off the back of what Kevin just said. Sorry, just to repeat the question.
09:06What would the Houses of Parliament look like with Nigel Farage in it?
09:11Well, probably, I don't think actually the Houses of Parliament will change that much
09:17because of Nigel Farage being there very occasionally, coming in, speaking his mind
09:23about what he wants the government to do, and then disappearing off to support his friend
09:31Trump in America. I really don't think that we're going to see the great impact.
09:38The opposition to Labour is going to come from the Conservative Party, not from Reform,
09:44and not from the Liberal Democrats. And this is what's so important for us to remind ourselves
09:50as Conservatives, that we are still the opposition. We're the second largest party,
09:57and we are the only party with a credible alternative plan to the incoming Labour
10:04government. That is absolute mere puff, because your party, the reason why it will implode,
10:08you will never agree a leader. If you talk about the people in the Westminster circle,
10:13it's ranging from Suella Bradman to Lord Cameron. You will never agree a leader. So this idea that
10:18they're a credible alternative is rubbish. 14 years of failure, there's not one good thing we
10:23can say about the Conservatives. They deserve to wipe out. This idea that they're the opposition
10:27is absolute nonsense. But is Nigel Farage going to be spending his weekends doing constituency
10:32work in Clacton? Is that going to happen? That's what he said. Absolutely. And because he will be
10:37a constituency MP. Of course, he has the duty of running Reform. Didn't he say he couldn't think
10:42of anything worse? Absolutely, a long time ago. That not still stand? No, absolutely not. So he's
10:48changed his mind? Yes. Okay. Because we can't do that. We can't do that. He wasn't going to run,
10:53and then he did. And then he won. So we can't change our minds. Okay, we're going to go out
10:59and about. Leave that conversation there. It's getting lively as we head into the early hours
11:03of Friday morning. We need it. Okay, where are we heading next now? We're going to go to
11:10Gabriel Morris in Maidstone. Gabriel, what's it like over there?
11:18Give us the update from where we are. We should be able to hear you now, hopefully.
11:30I don't think we can get audio from you, Gabriel. Okay, we'll try and sort that with you, Gabriel,
11:35and we'll come back to us in the studio. There we go. We tried to have a break there to go to
11:40Gabriel in Maidstone. He's at two of the counts there. If we look at the exit poll for Kent,
11:47looking at 11 Labour, 7 Conservatives, what surprised you the most, Kevin? I haven't seen
11:55the exit poll, so I haven't actually seen any detail because I was stuck in the car.
12:00So it'd be wrong for me to say what surprised me most because I don't actually know very much
12:04about what's going on at the moment. So I'm hoping to catch up later, to be perfectly blunt. 13 for
12:08reform. How about that? 13 for reform. Yeah, there we go. As if by magic. But that's not Kent,
12:16is it? Because they're not going to take 13 seats in Kent. No, 13 seats in Kent,
12:21that's a very different picture. Okay, we've got 7 Conservative, 11 Labour.
12:27Well, I'm not surprised, to be perfectly honest. I mean, yeah, obviously, with reform standing and
12:34our constituents, we had 11 candidates, which is unheard of. Votes will be split all over,
12:40so yes, that will be a benefit to some parties. Of course, you're a business, aren't you?
12:46Which is obviously why I try to be running a business, not a party going forward. It doesn't
12:51surprise me. It's just sad that there's 7. Okay, let's see what surprises are with Gabriel.
12:58Maybe sound. Maybe we'll have sound with Gabriel now. Gabriel, what's it like where you are?
13:03Do we have sound? We do have sound. Perfect, there we go. Here are the four live TV things
13:09going wrong. Well, yeah, I'm here in Meso Moat Park. It's a leisure centre,
13:14Meso in the morning and Faversham and Mid Kent, both being counted here. Both Tory strongholds.
13:21Now, polls are predicting the Conservative holds for both of the seats. But I mean,
13:26speaking to some candidates and our murmurings looking at the council, possibly Labour could
13:32take a win here in Maidstone and Morning, but it is too early to predict. We won't know until
13:36the actual count comes through, and that's predicted in the next few hours or so. One of
13:41the candidates for the Green Party is Stuart Geoffrey, and he also happens to be the council
13:47leader for Maidstone Borough Council. I've been speaking to him this evening about what the day
13:53one priority should be for the next MP for Maidstone and Morning. The survival of society,
14:01the survival of the planet. We have to make sure we hold Labour to account to deliver
14:06and be as adventurous and exciting as they can possibly be and not be just pulling up the draw
14:13bridges, cancelling the Green programme as they've done before. So we need to be driving that and we
14:19need to be driving that from day one. But we also need to be driving them to say the cost of living
14:24is hurting and killing people. So tackle both at the same time they can be tackled.
14:30What about their planning policies and proposals? I mean, it looks like there could potentially be
14:37large amounts of greenbelt building taking place if Labour do get into government tomorrow morning.
14:43Well, that would be very disappointing. You know, we need the right homes in the right
14:48place at the right price. And we need farmland. Going into the future, farmland will become a
14:54very, very essential commodity. We have to be able to grow food. There is not
15:01the one thing more important than a good house is being able to feed yourself.
15:07Well, Stuart there talking about housing and on farmland, and I think here in Maidstone and Morning
15:13and also the Faversham and Midkent seat, which is also being counted here. Housing is probably one
15:17of the biggest key issues for these two local areas. In Faversham and Midkent just last week,
15:22I was at a public meeting for a new garden town city proposed for Lennonheath. And there are some
15:28other candidates for the local area over there, including Helen Waitley, who's the Conservative
15:33candidate for Faversham and Midkent. Now, she hasn't been seen here yet, nor has the Conservative
15:39candidate, Helen Grant, for Maidstone and Morning. But we are starting to see more and more come
15:44through now. We've seen the Labour candidate, Mel Dawkins, for Faversham and Midkent. Still early
15:48days. We should be going into the counting stage for both seats in the next half hour or so. But
15:55we're here for the long haul. They're giving journalists free coffee. I've got plenty of
15:59snacks, so I'm not complaining. We'll bring you the results as soon as we can. Gabriel, can you
16:06get some of those snacks over to us here in the studio? We're slacking, aren't we? Gabriel, thank
16:10you very much. I've got some olives, I've got sushi, lots to choose from. Olives and sushi!
16:15That is olives and sushi. You only had a banana.
16:19Yeah, I've got no bananas. I've got some nuts as well if you want some, but crisps as well.
16:24Is this what it's come to? Half past midnight, Gabriel, thank you.
16:29Okay. We're all going to be hungry now talking about that. Olives. What's he like? Anyway,
16:36we were talking earlier about campaigns and how that looks as well. I've been asking the
16:42question to a few of our guests if campaigns really do make an impact or if people have made
16:46their minds up walking into there. Some people we've heard from, they didn't know what they were
16:50doing until they walked in and they put that across on the paper. Kevin, how important is it
16:55for a decent campaign? Getting out on the doorstep, speaking to the people, hearing what their
17:00concerns are, explaining what each individual political party intends to do about their
17:06concerns. I think it's vital. We found a number that even up to today, they were saying we're
17:12still undecided, but I think the vast majority had already made their minds up before they get to
17:17there. I think visibility is really important as well. I think it's important that politicians,
17:22particularly if they're standing in a scene on the streets, talking to the people. I wholeheartedly
17:26support it. I think it's better than leafletting personally. Maxwell, so far we've had five
17:34results through, all five Labour. Seeing some of the turnouts, 51%, 52%, overall it's 54.4% now.
17:46Low numbers. I think people are just totally disillusioned by politics. When you look at
17:51both the main parties, neither of their leaders are quite charismatic, are they? What can we do
17:56to get people back into politics? Can we do a lot of what we see Sarah Davey doing, the obstacle
18:00course, the bungee jumps? I think we can improve the integrity of politicians across all parties
18:04because people are fed up with sleaze, whatever's going on, whether it's putting the insider
18:10dealing bets on or whatever. This isn't about presidential elections. We're not America,
18:15thank God. This isn't about electing a president. This is about electing a party. They just happen
18:19to have a leader. So it's not about charisma. I just think we have to get integrity and honesty
18:23back to politics. You say it's about electing a party. It's designed that you choose your
18:28local MP. I was having this discussion just earlier that you choose the person that's right
18:32for you. Regardless of the party, it's what their views are for you. So perhaps what you just said
18:38there is not about the party. It's about choosing a person and then that collective result overall.
18:42I think it's at a local level. But nationally, we're trying to make it very presidential.
18:46So it's all about the leader, which is far more than just about a leader. It's about the party
18:51because at the end of the day, the leader's one vote in a democratic party. So Starmer could be
18:56outvoted 409 to 1, should it be the way. But we're sadly going along the American way. And that
19:05is not good for local politics. It's not good for politics in the United Kingdom. What we've got to
19:09do, though, is let's get some honesty back. Let the people in Westminster lead by example. And
19:15that's what they should be doing. And it doesn't matter what colour they are wearing. It's about
19:20honesty and it's about integrity. And that's what's missing, I think, in politics, which is
19:24why we don't care. They're all as bad as each other. We're discussing loyalty as well. Loyalty
19:29to vote for an MP that you've had for years on end. It makes you think Roger Gale and his seat's
19:34looking like it's going to go the other way to Labour. So do you think, I suppose, that the
19:40Conservatives needed to do more to step up their canvassing to not sit back and think that it was
19:44a secure spot? Well, of course, the Conservatives should have done more. And the results tonight
19:50are showing that. But I think what we've heard is how important it is that local MPs represent
19:59their areas. And what I find is going to be really interesting is how the Labour's plan
20:06to concrete over the Greenbelt and increase the power and build pylons across the Kent countryside
20:15is really going to play out for those new Labour MPs who will see their
20:23constituencies potentially concreted over. And of course, one of Keir Starmer's biggest challenges
20:30is going to be whether he can bring those new MPs along, because when they are facing local
20:38constituencies who are at the receiving end of this build, build, build mentality from the Labour
20:47Party with pylons and new housing estates, they may well choose to vote against the Labour Party
20:57and fair play to them if they do that. So I think the Labour Party is going to have its challenges
21:03in Kent. What do you think to that, Kevin? What are the challenges that are laid out for you?
21:07I think the Labour Party will have challenges because at the end of the day, you've got
21:11right 14 years of wrong. I mean, what we've heard earlier on, you know, we're out of the recession.
21:15No, we're not out. You know, I've still got families that have got no money coming in who
21:19are struggling. So I don't see how anybody, particularly a Kent County Council, where
21:23you're about to go through huge cuts, removing children's services, can sit there and say,
21:28it's all getting better. Because I don't know what colour glasses you wear, but reality is,
21:33it is not getting better out there. Hence the reason that the electorate have said quite
21:37clearly today, you're not fit to run the government. We don't want you running the
21:41country. We want an alternative government. So at the end of the day, you know, it isn't nice
21:45out there. I'm sure that reform will say, because they've been knocking on the doors,
21:49I have to say I've seen more posters of them than I have from your party, that, you know,
21:53the people out there are still concerned. You know, they can't get into education, they can't
21:57get ahead of health service, they can't get into dentistry. You know, potholes seem to be coming up
22:02every day. We've still got people living in poverty in this country, and that shouldn't
22:08be right in this day and age. So there's a number of challenges that are coming up. You know,
22:12we've got 4,000 people on the waiting list in Dover to get into housing, two and a half thousand
22:17families. What do you offer them? If you give somebody a roof over their head, you change their
22:21life forever. And we're not seeing that. Every council's temporary accommodation bill is going
22:27through the roof. Ours is over £2 million a year. That cannot be right. So we do need to build. But I
22:32accept, you know, it's a balancing act. But we haven't got a housing crisis. We've gone through
22:37that in this country, and it impacts on every council. I'm interested to know when the responsibility
22:43shifts from blaming 14 years of a government that's put you in the position we are now,
22:50to taking accountability and saying, well, whatever this government looks like in
22:55nine and a half hours, when does the responsibility shift? And you say,
23:00actually, these are our problems now? Or will that blame of the past 14 years just continue?
23:04Well, there's going to be a degree of it, because to some extent, you inherit the budgets and the
23:08spending. But to me, the difficult work starts literally tomorrow. Because, you know, it's my
23:14responsibility to hold whoever to account, whatever colour rosette they wear, to deliver what's right
23:18for the people in the Dover district. You know, and I think most Labour councillors will say
23:24exactly the same. You know, it's not going to be easy. But, you know, we have got to put challenges
23:28to the Labour Party as well. Okay, I think we're going to go over to Folkestone and Hyde now.
23:34Reporter Finn McDermott's there. Finn, what's it look like for you over there? I believe counting's
23:40just started. Yeah, it's pretty busy here. Counting has just started. And it's especially
23:50busy this time around, as the constituency has expanded down to Romney, which might present quite
23:56an interesting challenge. The seat has always been conservative. In the 70 years it's been
24:02conservative. But experts have pinned the seat to have a 98% chance of a Labour victory. And I've
24:09just spoken to the reform candidate who says he believes he has a strong chance of winning.
24:16Well, Finn, thank you very much. We'll be sure to keep joining on with you and seeing how you get
24:20on. I hope you've got plenty of snacks like Gabriel. He has olives and nuts and all sorts.
24:24But I don't know, what snacks do you have, Finn? I've got anything I could find at Lidl. I've got
24:31onion rings. I'm particularly a fan of beef crisps. I've got quite a lot of those. Okay,
24:37thank you for the snack update. We'll be getting a few of them dotted through from our reporters
24:41there. What did you make, Maxwell, of hearing him then, the reform candidate thinks he's got
24:45a good chance there? I'm not surprised. I think across a lot of the Kent seats, I think reform
24:51are going to have strong numbers. These will, in the main, be Tory voters who are totally and
24:56utterly disillusioned by their party. These are not, and I speak frankly, a lot of the conservative
25:01MPs here are not very good. When I've been door knocking, a lot of people have been
25:07asking, who is Helen Wakeloo? We don't see her out and about. She comes down for photo ops for
25:13schools and with hospitals, but actually, she's not a local MP. I think that's why reform is going
25:18to pick up a lot of votes across Kent itself. I think, although we're not likely to win a seat,
25:26I definitely think we are building up the grassroots and the momentum to actually in
25:302029 do very well indeed. Does that scare you, hearing that? Well, what scares me actually is
25:38what we've got coming and all I can say is for the next five years, brace yourself because
25:47what we've heard from the Labour Party is they're not going to increase income tax,
25:51they're not going to increase national insurance and they're not going to increase VAT other than
25:56on private schools. But actually, when you look at what they promised for us, more doctors, more
26:03teachers, this all has to be paid for and the first budget is likely to be in October or November
26:11and so I say again, there will be tax rising. I think it's almost certain to be things like council
26:19tax. There's a whole raft of additional taxes that we can see introduced, capital gains tax
26:28and of course there's some soft targets that they'll talk about, about attacking the private
26:34equity barons and so on. But I think there's going to be an awful lot of pain for an awful lot of
26:41people on additional taxation. So, brace yourself and wait for the next year. But you say all of
26:48that, the British people have resoundingly said, yes, we have got a Keir Starmer nightmare arriving
26:53but it's still better than the rubbish and the nonsense you guys have delivered for the last 14
26:58years. So, I find it so utterly rich that the Conservatives are complaining about Keir Starmer,
27:02I would never vote for the Labour Party ever. But I find it so disillusional that the Tories are
27:07suggesting that the British people, they don't know what they're voting for. It's the
27:11same old things in a party, suggesting that the ordinary people don't know what
27:16they're voting for. It's nonsense, absolute nonsense. And yes, of course, Keir, I don't trust
27:22them on the economy, particularly don't trust them on immigration. But actually, the British people
27:25have said today, well, they're better than the Conservatives and that's why you guys are going to
27:29get wiped out and deservedly so. And immigration, a huge topic to talk about as well, particularly
27:35for Dover. I think we can go down to Dover now. One of our reporters is joining us live now from
27:44then. There's Dan Essin on the screen now for our local democracy reporter, Dan there. Dan,
27:49what can you tell us from Dover? Morning. So, at the moment, votes in Dover are still being verified,
27:56they're not being counted yet. And a lot of the candidates aren't yet, that's to be expected,
28:00because the result isn't expected here until probably about 3.30 in the morning.
28:08OK, I think we just lost audio with you there again, but still waiting for all those to be
28:12verified and counted there, that result coming in at 3.30. An early morning, a late morning for
28:18you, Kevin, I don't know. Dan, thank you. Another morning. And that on tax rises there, let's just
28:25pick back up where we left with that conversation, will there be? The answer is I don't know,
28:30they've said no. And I'm not party to the inner dealings. It's not a yes or a no, is it? That's
28:35quite the point. We all saw those head to head, so we're trying to get the answers out of them.
28:39The one thing that's quite obvious, though, is that the tax gap in this country has widened as
28:43well. So I think we need to look at all of that. But at the end of the day, I'd expect my colleague
28:48from the Tory party to be very bitter and twisted and worried about the next five years. I suggest
28:53it's probably longer than five years, with 410, because at the end of the day, you've failed the
28:58country. And they've reacted to that by saying, you've failed. I say, I've never seen it. I
29:06remember the 1997 elections where it was much more euphoric, but say, I don't ever recall Tory
29:13party members or voters coming to me and saying, I've just not voted for them, I'm voting Labour
29:18tonight. You know, when there are other options, they've said, no, I'm going straight over to
29:22Labour. And that's the issue that the Conservatives have got to deal with at some stage.
29:27So does it concern you? It's actually just a question that the vote, national vote share
29:32looks like it's going to be down one or two points compared to 2019 and 2017. And on a Labour's
29:37perspective, are you worried about that? Or is it just, you know, I mean, of course, the seats,
29:41that's a huge success, of course, but on the actual national share of the vote, is that something to
29:46be concerned about, do you think? Is that the Keir Starmer maybe not being the figurehead that
29:51maybe the nation wants? I mean, Keir Starmer's Marmite within certain sections of the Labour
29:55party, that's fine. I think it's generally, though, the concern is about, you know, what's
30:02the difference? You know, they're all in it for themselves. It's about bringing back some
30:06integrity. If we can get the electorate to actually start to trust politicians of whatever colour
30:10they are, then I think, you know, that's got to be a good thing for democracy. And I think that's
30:17key to it. And, you know, and they've got to lead by example. You know, and, you know, one thing I
30:24would say about Keir Starmer is if, you know, if he sees wrongdoing, he deals with it straight away,
30:28you're suspended. Soon after, well, I might, I might not. Shall I? Well, can you actually do
30:33insider dealing and betting? I'm not really sure about it. Well, I think I'll get rid of them now.
30:37You've got, a leader doesn't do that. A leader makes a decisive decision because the worst
30:42decision is no decision. And that's what we've had for a long, long time. Paul, we'll bring you in
30:47on the betting. It's come up a couple of times. What was your takeaway from that? Well, I think
30:52it's unprofessional and it's wrong and it should never have happened. And my colleagues are quite
30:59right that the Prime Minister should have taken immediate action. He must have thought when he
31:06first heard about it that he was going to have to deselect, effectively abandon his candidates.
31:13So he would have been much better off just doing it the instance he heard about it rather than
31:18waiting for, what was it, 48 hours or so. And I think that's important that we have leadership
31:25from our leaders. And it does kind of go back to the point that I made earlier about the lack of
31:32vision and the lack of selling Great Britain PLC. And I think if there is criticism on Rishi,
31:41it is about the way that he's not talked up what's good in this country. Does that sort of reflect,
31:48I suppose, the few gaffes of his campaign, looking at the D-Day memorial that he left
31:55early as well? Well, that was bizarre. I mean, that was truly bizarre. And I mean, what on earth
32:01he was thinking to do that is beyond me. And I'm sure, well, he said clearly that he regretted it.
32:08That apology, it was, you know, you don't sort of see that from a Prime Minister in a campaign
32:14like this. I don't know what he was thinking. He made a mistake. He said he made a mistake.
32:19But frankly, those are the kind of mistakes that should never have been made. Do you think
32:25Rishi Sunak will continue as the leader of the opposition? No, I think it's unlikely. I think
32:33that it is inevitable that defeated Prime Ministers resign. We've seen that. Corbyn,
32:43after five years ago, he resigned when he didn't lead the Labour Party into victory. And I think
32:51it's almost a tradition. But it's what you expect, because the Conservative Party needs to reset.
32:59It needs to look back on its record in the last five years, understand what it's done badly,
33:06understand what it's done well, and just bring the party together. The great advantage that we,
33:13of course, are going to have with 131 Conservative MPs is there won't be enough of them to have an
33:19argument amongst themselves, because that was one of the biggest problems of the Conservative Party.
33:26They spent far too much time arguing amongst themselves. And now we're in an opportunity of
33:35resetting how we're going to be the opposition. And I think it's time for a new leader in order
33:41to show us our route back to power, because after all, we will be back. Maxwell, leader of the
33:47opposition. Rishi? He's got to go. He's got to go. I mean, it's embarrassing what he's done to the
33:53Conservative Party. And that's not just because of tonight's premiership. But you can't seriously
33:57suggest that the party is going to unite. You've already got, even tonight, the One Nation saying
34:02we need to go towards a centre. That's where you win elections, apparently. And then you've
34:06already got more, let's say, right wing figures suggesting that we have to go towards the right.
34:11I mean, Sweller, the day before the election, was saying that we're going to lose anyway, and we need
34:16to follow reforms tact. I mean, the party is never going to find one unifying candidate. The best
34:22chance you got was Penny Morden, and she's going to lose her seat tonight anyway. So there's no
34:26hope for the Conservative Party to actually survive this, in my view. Of course, they will have the
34:31second most seats. Fantastic. I suspect many of them will defect either to reform or the Liberal
34:36Democrats, or even Labour, in fairness. Some of them may be the One Nations. But it's a dead party.
34:41The branding's dead. And I don't think, regardless of what leader you put up there, I do not believe,
34:46with any sincerity of your heart, that they will be a figure that can either deal with Keir
34:51Starmer as Prime Minister and take him on, or Nigel Farage and the momentum he's got.
34:56And Kevin, are you in agreement there? I can't remember what the question was.
35:02It's getting early. Time check, ten to one, very quickly. Will Rishi lead the opposition?
35:06Not in a month of Sundays. He'll be out. Probably he'll stand down by the end of the week.
35:11But the Tories will possibly do what they always do.
35:16Panic will jump to the right. I don't think that's necessarily the right way for them to go.
35:21And we'll see. But no, there's no way he'll lead the party.
35:23So who do you think Keir Starmer will want to be up against on the other side?
35:26Well, anyone. Of course, I don't think any of them will be him, to be perfectly blunt.
35:32OK. There we go. Thank you all so much. I think we've got Cameron Tucker over in Medway now to
35:37give us an update. Those continue to be counted. Cameron, what's it looking like where you are?
35:43That's right. You might just see me looking over my shoulder. As you can see, it's filling up in
35:51all the different camps of all of the parties. If I maybe read into it a little bit, there's
35:57definitely a look of glee among many of the Labour camp. I've spoken to some of them. They're all
36:03very pleased with the exit polls. But as we heard from Medway council leader Vince Maple at the
36:10start of the program, the only poll that matters is the results that come out later on. We have,
36:17obviously, as you saw earlier on, we have had Raymond Shishdi has arrived. He has disappeared.
36:22He's been spending most of his time walking amongst the count. We did try and get an interview
36:28with him, but it was a flat no from him, very similar to the response we got for the hustings
36:34that we invited him to. So we're going to try and speak to him a little bit later on. Like I said,
36:40it's filling up more here. Counts are still going on to the left of me. We'll bring you
36:44more when we have it. Very quickly, what snacks have you got? I've been asking them all.
36:54I don't think I don't think Cam's got any snacks. We'll have to get some sent to him.
37:01Okay. No snacks for Cameron. More snacks for us in the studio then.
37:06No olives like Gabriel. I'm just looking at some of the latest results here. It looks like
37:12six for Labour. I don't think we've got any on the anything coming up on the screen there,
37:17but we've got six for six for Labour. But obviously, counts continue. It is pretty
37:23early on into the evening as well. Let's circle back to the picture in Kent. Let's have a look
37:31at what we've got in front of me here. Anything you're particularly surprised about? Obviously,
37:38we've discussed Ashford. We've discussed Damien Green, a devastating night and what that could
37:44look like. But other parts of Kent, we can quickly touch back on with Roger Gerland in
37:49Herne Bay. I mean, I had Barry Lewis from East Thanet. I don't think his jaw left the floor since
37:55he was sitting with me for the half an hour. Quite a surprise.
37:58It is quite a surprise. But I think, you know, I know they've changed the boundaries as they've
38:02taken in certain other areas. But again, you know, to some extent, a lot of this is just
38:08a replication of how the district council elections went. Sandwich and some of the other
38:15areas now are not places that the Conservatives can rely on anymore. There's a lot of disillusionment
38:24there. They've got an independent councillor in Sandwich who does represent the town extremely
38:28well. So, you know, no, it's not a surprise. It's always the same here, there's personal
38:35support, but personal support very rarely gets you over the line at the end of the day.
38:40And Maxwell, you're talking about Helen in the constituency there looking to keep that spot.
38:47And you were mentioning some of the sort of apathy and the views of constituents there towards her
38:53that she's not as visible. No, I don't think she's a visible MP. And when I was going around
38:59the constituency and speaking to countless people every single day, what I was really
39:05surprised about was actually, is it actually the anger? Because the Conservatives have absolutely
39:09let us down. And what I think we do need, and actually hitting on the integrity point about
39:15what we want from a local MP, you want them to actually be from the area, you want them to
39:19understand the people, to understand the communities. And that, to me, with Helen Watney, you don't get
39:24that as an MP. I don't think, you know, even though she's going to win tonight, I do think that a lot
39:29of that is, of course, the fear of Starmageddon, which is going to put her through. And again, I
39:34don't think the Labour campaign has been particularly great as a force of opposition in
39:38Farish and McCain, if I can say that. But no, she's relatively unknown, really.
39:44She doesn't really do much for the constituency. And she's a career politician, you know.
39:49And just, Paul, I'll bring you in, just lastly, before we go to a report of ours from earlier
39:54in the campaign. Do you think that Conservative MPs have been visible enough, have been
40:00constituency MPs? There are the select few among, but some that don't, I mean, we were just speaking
40:05there, even to our hustings event that KMTV hosted, we had the three Conservative candidates
40:11turn us down. What's your opinion? Well, I can only speak for Ashford. I know Ashford very well.
40:17I know the MP for Ashford, or the current MP for Ashford very well. And all I can say is that there
40:23is not a single person who could work harder in promoting the town and the area around Ashford
40:31than Damian Green has. He is always in the constituency. He's at every event in the constituency
40:39and has been for the last 30-odd years. What's gone wrong for him? He wanted to stand in the wheel,
40:46so if his alliance is to Ashford, then... Well, the constituency cut in two, effectively, and he had
40:55to choose which half of Ashford he wanted to support. And he's gone with the town centre,
41:04and the town centre is an area that he knows and has supported extremely well. But the wheeled a
41:10really safe seat? Well, and the wheeled has got a fantastic candidate there in Katie Lamb. Ashford
41:16feeling second best? Ashford is never second best to anybody who lives in Ashford. I have to say,
41:23anybody who ever comes down and lives in Ashford feels as though they've arrived in paradise,
41:29because that's what I found when I moved to Ashford over 50 years ago. I thought,
41:35when I came down from London, what a wonderful place. Paradise, that's where it is. It's in
41:40Ashford, if you're thinking of your holiday location for the summer after the election.
41:45Some time to enjoy the paradise that is Ashford. Thank you, all three of you. I think we're going
41:49to go to a report now about Craig McKinley from earlier in the campaign. It was just two days ago
41:56that South Thanet MP Craig McKinley returned to the spotlight after his fight with sepsis,
42:02revealing the extent of his amputations and pledging to fight the next election.
42:07Now, that will no longer be the case. In a statement released on Facebook,
42:12McKinley says the life of an MP will be difficult to sustain after his illness.
42:17I think it's very sad, because I know that Craig was very determined to stand and fight his seat
42:25at the next election. I suspect what has happened, and I don't know because I haven't spoken to him,
42:30but I suspect what has happened is that the election was called rather sooner than he was
42:36or felt medically able to not only walk into the House of Commons, but to fight a six-week,
42:43fairly gruelling election campaign. My guess is that he and Cotty, his wife,
42:48will have discussed it and decided that it was probably an ask too far.
42:54The Labour candidate has also expressed her sympathies,
42:57but says the news won't change how she campaigns.
43:00It's never definitely loves politics, and I have no doubt he is going to be a formidable
43:05campaigner for increasing sepsis awareness and supporting those who experience something
43:10similar to him in terms of multiple amputations. I have to say, from my perspective, I'm entirely
43:17focused on getting out and knocking on doors that the people of Thanet have done before
43:23this news and will do now that Craig has stood down.
43:28On the other side of the county in Tunbridge Wells,
43:31former Minister Greg Clark has been the MP there for nearly 20 years.
43:36The local Liberal Democrat candidate says Clark's resignation has made his job easier.
43:42There's been a long run-up. Just this month, we took a very large majority on the local council,
43:48not only with the Conservatives going back, but also losing vote share, and we beat them by 4,000
43:54votes. And I think that, as across the blue wall, Tory MPs are looking over their shoulders
44:00at Lib Dem challengers, and that's what's happened here.
44:04McKinley and Clark joined three other MPs who are standing down. Natalie Elphick in Dover,
44:10Gordon Henderson in Sissingbourne and Sheppey, and Tracey Crouch in Chatham and Aylesford.
44:16Whatever the future holds for Kent's political landscape after the election, the one thing for
44:21certain is it will be a very different landscape from today's. Oliver Leader, The Saks, for KMTV.