Inaugural Meeting of the Weald of Kent Labour Party

The Inaugural Meeting of the new Weald of Kent Labour Party was held in Tenterden Town Hall on Friday 8th December. This follows the 2023 Boundary Commission review and the creation of a new Weald of Kent parliamentary seat. The constituency is one of the most rural seats in England, and includes three towns (Cranbrook, Staplehurst and Tenterden) and over 40 villages.

The Inaugural Meeting elected a team of constituency officers led by Chair Priti Paintal and David Ward as Secretary. The meeting looked forward to the next General Election and to local elections to be held in Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells on May 2nd. Members expressed their determination to give people in the Weald of Kent the opportunity to vote for a better, fairer, future with Labour, and an end to Tory failure, division, and chaos.

The meeting issued an open letter to Ms Katie Lam, who the Conservatives have selected to be their prospective parliamentary candidate for the Weald of Kent. The letter invites Ms Lam “to address some issues arising from your previous roles as Deputy Chief of Staff to the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and as Special Adviser to the former Home Secretary Suella Braverman”. Pointing out that, “both these senior Conservative politicians were forced from office for breaching the requirements of the Ministerial Code”, the letter states that voters in the Weald of Kent “are surely entitled to know your views on these controversies” and poses five related questions to Ms Lam.

1. Do you agree that breaking the Ministerial code & lying to Parliament necessitate resigning from the Government?
2. As Suella Braveman’s Special Adviser did you have any role in the former Home Secretary’s article published in the Times on November 8th without 10 Downing Street approval that led to her resignation?
3. Do you agree with Suella Braverman that living on the streets is a “lifestyle choice”?
4. Do you support UK withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights?
5. Did you receive a Downing Street ‘Partygate’ fixed penalty notice?”

To date Ms Lam has not responded to the letter or answered the questions.

The selection for Labour’s candidate for the Weald of Kent is now underway. Independent polling shows that Labour is the clear challenger to the Tories in the Weald of Kent. With Conservative support declining in rural areas the Weald of Kent Labour Party is confident it will mount a strong campaign against Ms Lam.

The Inaugural Meeting received many messages of support including from the Chair of the Labour South East Region & Leader of Medway Council Vince Maple. He congratulated members and said that “it is vital we have strong Labour voices in very corner of our county and indeed our country”.