The general election is dominating the news agenda but Maidstone’s political landscape could also see a significant shift next month.

There will be 19 Maidstone Borough Council seats up for grabs on May 7 - 35% of its places.

The Conservatives currently have the most seats but their lead is slender, largely due to a Ukip surge at last year’s local contest.

At present the Tories hold 23 seats with the Lib Dems having 20 while Ukip have three.
There are five independents and two labour representatives with a further two seats currently unoccupied.

Residents living in the 19 wards where there is a seat up for election will receive a second ballot slip when they visit their polling station.

This will be to choose who they want to represent their interests at the council.
After the election there will be 55 councillors across 26 wards.

Together they form the full council, which is responsible for making decisions - with the help of around 600 paid officers.

The body makes key decisions on planning applications, collecting rubbish, recycling and collecting council tax.

Councillors serve a four year term and in our borough they are elected one third at a time - unlike most councils.

The logic behind this is that political parties will be held accountable for their actions every year rather than once every four years.

At the moment Cllr Annabelle Blackmore, a Conservative representative for Marden and Yalding, leads the authority but that could soon change if this year’s vote is equally as explosive as the last one.

The Tories lost four of their 29 seat majority to Ukip and became the third choice in several wards.

The Lib Dems meanwhile managed to keep the same number of seats but they lost to Labour in Fant and beat the Tories in the Heath Ward.

There has been some change in the political landscape since.

Christine Edwards-Daem, who was among the first Ukip councillors to be elected, resigned from representing Park Wood in March to concentrate on her day job.

That seat is currently vacant, as is Leeds, following the death of former mayor Cllr Peter Parvin at the start of the year.

Mrs Blackmore is also still in her first year of leadership.

Former leader Cllr Chris Garland, who represents Shepway North, stood down following last year’s election citing work commitments as the reason.

He said he had made the decision before the results came in.

The average turnout across the wards was 39.2% per cent, with 28% of voters ticking Conservative on the ballot slip.

Ukip took 27% of votes with 25% going to the Lib Dems and 10% to Labour.

To view the full list of candidates, click here.