Tories hold Herne

Maxine Marsh congratulates husband Alan as he is re-elected for the Tories to Herne and Sturry

Herne remains the only part of Herne Bay with a Conservative councillor after Alan Marsh held on to his seat. He polled 1,452 votes – 41 per cent – beating Ukip's Sarah Larkins, with 1,086 votes, into second place .

Labour's Alan Stanley gained 590 votes while Green Party candidate Elisa De Vert beat the Lib Dems into fifth place with her total of 217, ahead of Nigel Whitburn's 169.

Mr Marsh said:

"I'm very pleased that I have the opportunity to serve the people I represent for another four years. It's a critical time and I want to make sure that we do everything possible not only to smooth the path for health, education and highways, but also to ensure that the people of Kent get the best lifestyle that we can provide by working closely together as one community."

The Ukip vote amounted to almost a third of the total votes cast, with 17% for Labour, 6% for the Green Party and 5% for the Liberal Democrats.

The turnout was 27%, with 3,514 votes cast from a total electorate of almost 14,000.

thisiskent 10th May 2013