A Tory councillor who quit his boyhood party to set up his own is calling for candidates to join and ensure local voices are heard above “Nigel Farage or anybody else”.
Cllr Andrew Lawrence has founded Medway First – a party he says will truly represent Medway’s interests in the new North Kent unitary formed after local government reorganisation (LGR).
The Hempstead and Wigmore councillor, who joined the party as a teenager, announced he was leaving the Conservatives on Monday (September 7),
He’s now calling for candidates to join his new party ahead of the local elections next year and hopes it will even grow to enter the House of Commons for the three Medway seats.
Despite the pause on LGR which was announced by Angela Rayner earlier this week, Medway First expects the plans will eventually go ahead and wants to be ready.
Its newly launched website lays out its ambitions, policies, and has an application form to stand as a candidate.
Speaking to KentOnline, Cllr Lawrence said he wanted a voice for the Towns and its needs in the new unitary authorities which were laid out in July.
He said: “With LGR I was really worried about Medway being lost in a much larger authority, but also – when I was a Conservative councillors – I was really concerned that we were answerable to a national party.
“I’m a firm believer in localism and that we should be much more accountable to our local residents.
“I want to create a party which will be run by Medway residents for Medway residents and our focus is on the things which aren’t working.
“Everyone knows the dire financial situation the council is in, I think we need to start with a blank piece of paper, work on what we have to provide as statutory services, and then build other things around it.
“The other thing I’m really concerned about is civic pride in Medway.
“It’s a real disappointment as you drive around and see litter everywhere, fly-tipping is worse, grass isn’t being cut for ages and then when it is the place is left to look a mess.
“If our own residents are saying our town centres look a mess, why would a business want to invest in them?”
The manifesto features six pillars but also says new members and candidates will have a hand in shaping the vision of the group.
Among the pillars are to be more efficient and effective with taxpayer funds, improve pride in Medway through street cleaning, consistent bin collections, fixing potholes and tackling anti-social behaviour.
They also include campaigning to government to put infrastructure which will support new housing developments in before the houses are granted, and a cross-North Kent public transport network to ensure a reliable service.
Medway First would also push for committees in the authority which focus on specific areas and their issues and have greater transparency, publishing spending data, debt, tax collection rates as well as the number of staff off sick, vacancies and agency staff.
The party would also ask its councillors to live in the ward they represent and have roots in their area, which is not a standard requirement for standing in a seat.
Cllr Lawrence said the new group would be apolitical and he would work with people of different views as long as they wanted the best for Medway.
He continued: “If you’re walking around Medway thinking you could run things better, I want to speak to you because you probably can.
“This administration and ones before it have not improved the lives of Medway residents, can you point to anything which has actually changed?
“I’m less interested in your political views, I want people who have been successful in their professional lives, people who’ve brought up a family, public sector, private sector.
“If you care about Medway, that’s much more important to me than being a politician.
Immigration is all they’re interested in which is a national government policy, not local.
He also believes Medway First would offer an antidote to Reform UK, who he claims don’t have the answers people are looking for.
Cllr Lawrence said: “To me, Reform are run by a cabal of people in central London – from what I’ve heard about KCC, Linden Kemkaran makes very few decisions herself, they’re made by people outside Kent.
“At Reform’s conference, I didn’t hear anything about local government. All Reform campaigns on are things local government can’t change.
“Immigration is all they’re interested in which is a national government policy, not local.
“Where’s all those millions in savings they were going to find? It’s been an embarrassing failure.
“The alternative that we will be offering is people who actually care about Medway, not about promoting Nigel Farage or anybody else.
“It’s about Medway, we’re accountable to its residents, and that’s all that matters to us.”
When Cllr Lawrence stepped down from his shadow cabinet position this week he resigned the whip.
It follows months of internal disagreements with his local constituency association, which has ultimately seen him deselected for his seat ahead of the local elections next year.
Cllr Lawrence wrote critically of the Gillingham and Rainham association in a blog post in October last year, saying a “culture of fear” had been created.
He claimed there had been a co-ordinated effort within the association to select an executive committee which would guarantee Rehman Chishti – formerly MP for the constituency – would be reselected as the candidate.
Conservative group leader, Cllr George Perfect, said he was disappointed but not surprised.
He said: “It’s not unexpected as he was deselected by his local association about a month ago.
“I am disappointed, he’s a key member of my frontbench and has done some good work, but this is what his local association has decided and I respect their decision.
“He has made public comments about the association’s leadership which have been very critical.
“You can imagine how that looks to members. No other member has made negative comments about the party.”
Cllr Lawrence is the fourth Tory councillor to leave the party since the last local elections in Medway in May 2023.
Cllr Elizabeth Turpin resigned as deputy leader in February 2024 and joined the Independent Group in May of that year.
She was joined by Cllr John Williams in July 2024.
Cllr Robbie Lammas defected from the Conservatives to Reform UK in October last year, but after seven months said he regretted his decision and now sits as an independent.
This brings the current status of Medway Council to: Labour – 31, Conservatives – 17, Independent Group – 5, Reform UK – 3, independents – 3.
