The defeats in Rochester and Warren Wood means Labour's effective majority on the council has been slashed.
Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.
Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.
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00:00The dust has settled on a difficult night for Labour here at Medway Park,
00:05with their council majority cut to a margin and two new Reform UK councillors seizing historically Labour ward seats.
00:16It's hard to believe that in this same room last summer, former councillors Neshaba Khan, Lauren Edwards and Tris Osborne
00:24were all elected to Parliament on a Labour clean sweep.
00:29But in these by-elections, brought about by their decision to step down to focus on their work in Westminster,
00:37partial defeat seemed even harder for the party faithful to comprehend.
00:44As boxes flowed in and votes began to be tallied, Gillingham South gave Labour an early glimmer of hope.
00:52Lubom Nesterova, Labour and Co-operative Party, 706.
01:02But with Reform seizing around 500 votes amidst low turnout in the ward,
01:08it wasn't just relief the newly elected councillor was feeling.
01:14It is worrying, yeah it is worrying, but we'll see.
01:19But Rochester and Warren Wood was where the real drama was taking place.
01:24The process that we have followed has been sufficient and actually I've demonstrated that we've got back to the verified figure in terms of the votes cast.
01:33However, in the circumstances that I am prepared to undertake what we call a bundle check.
01:40But even that last minute recount couldn't stop the inevitable.
01:45Ian Finch, Reform UK, 870.
01:54People are like realising that we need change and they realise that the other two parties can't deliver it.
01:59So we are Reform, we are that change that they...
02:04We hope, we hope for a big change, we're going to make a big change.
02:08And for the other parties, expectation management was the first priority.
02:13Reform won tonight by a handful of votes.
02:16There was a handful of votes between us and them.
02:19So from my perspective, look, it is disappointing.
02:22I want to win every election I contest, of course I do.
02:25But I recognise tonight we've been just falling slightly short on that.
02:29The future for Medway politics is now uncertain.
02:33Labour may still have a working majority.
02:36But with Reform emerging as a new political force in the five towns,
02:42Labour face a long road back to the heights of that now distant general election night.
02:48Oliver leaves the sacks for KNTV in Gillingham.