Borough of Swale

Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. The council is based in Sittingbourne, the borough's largest town. The borough also contains the towns of Faversham, Queenborough and Sheerness, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. It includes the Isle of Sheppey and is named after The Swale, the narrow channel which separates Sheppey from the mainland part of the borough. Some southern parts of the borough lie within the Kent Downs, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Borough of Swale
Non-metropolitan district and borough
Sittingbourne town centre
Swale shown within Kent
Coordinates: 51°20′24.73″N 0°43′51.32″E
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Sittingbourne
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Swale Borough Council
• MPs	Helen Whately (C) Kevin McKenna (L)
Area
• Total	144.2 sq mi (373.4 km2)
• Rank	93rd (of 296)
Population  (2022)
• Total	154,619
• Rank	139th (of 296)
• Density	1,100/sq mi (410/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 93.8% White 2.3% Black 1.8% Mixed 1.5% Asian 0.5% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 47.2% Christianity 45.3% no religion 5.1% not stated 1% Islam 0.4% other 0.4% Hinduism 0.3% Buddhism 0.1% Sikhism 0.1% Judaism
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	29UM (ONS) E07000113 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TQ9018863720

The borough borders the Medway unitary authority area to the west, the Borough of Maidstone to the south-west, the Borough of Ashford to the south-east, and the City of Canterbury to the east. Under proposed reorganisation in either April 2027 or 2028 the borough will face abolition and will join with one or more adjoining councils to form a new Unitary Authority. Details of such proposals are expected in Autumn 2025.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 covering the area of four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:^[2]

• Faversham Municipal Borough
• Queenborough-in-Sheppey Municipal Borough (which covered the whole Isle of Sheppey)
• Sittingbourne and Milton Urban District
• Swale Rural District

The new district was named Swale, after the waterway which divides the mainland part of the district from the Isle of Sheppey.^[3] The district was awarded borough status on 20 January 1978, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.^[4]

Governance

Swale Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Mayor	Ben Martin, Liberal Democrat since 15 May 2024[5]
Leader	Tim Gibson, Labour since 17 May 2023
Chief Executive	Larissa Reed since January 2021[6]
Structure
Seats	47 councillors
Political groups	Administration (15)   Labour (15) Other parties (32)   Conservative (10)   Swale Independents (8)   Liberal Democrats (5)   Reform UK (5)   Green (3)   Independent (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Motto
Known By Their Fruits
Meeting place
Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, ME10 3HT
Website
www.swale.gov.uk

Swale Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council. Most of the borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[7][8]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Following the 2023 election a coalition of Labour, local party the Swale Independents, the Greens and an independent councillor formed the council's administration.^[9] The coalition separated in December 2024, since when the council has been led by a minority Labour administration.^[10]

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:^[11][12][13]

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1976
	Conservative	1976–1986
	No overall control	1986–2002
	Conservative	2002–2019
	No overall control	2019–present

Leadership

The role of Mayor of Swale is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2002 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Andrew Bowles[14]		Conservative	2002	May 2019
Roger Truelove[15][16]		Labour	22 May 2019	27 Apr 2022
Mike Baldock[16]		Swale Ind.	27 Apr 2022	May 2023
Tim Gibson[17]		Labour	17 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was:^{[18][19][20][21]}

Party		Councillors
	Labour	15
	Conservative	10
	Swale Ind.	8
	Liberal Democrats	5
	Reform UK	5
	Green	3
	Independent	1
Total		47

The next elections are due in 2027.^[21]

Elections

See also: Swale Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 47 councillors representing 24 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.^[22]

Premises

The council is based at Swale House on East Street in Sittingbourne.^[23]

Economy

Swale is a mainly rural borough, containing a high proportion of the UK's apple, pear, cherry and plum orchards (the North Kent Fruit Belt^[24]), as well as many of its remaining hop gardens. Faversham has the Shepherd Neame brewery. Founded in 1698 it is claimed to be oldest brewery in the UK.

Sheerness is a busy port and previously produced steel. Sittingbourne has a variety of smaller industrial sites.

Transport

Sittingbourne railway station

The Roman Watling Street passed through the area, as witness the straightness of the A2 main road, now by-passed by the M2 motorway.

There are two railway lines in Swale: the Chatham Main Line and the Sheerness line, which meet at Sittingbourne.

Two adjoining bridges across The Swale link the Isle of Sheppey to the mainland: Kingsferry Bridge and the Sheppey Crossing.

In 2022, the council implemented a low-emission car club in the town of Faversham,^[25] in partnership with car sharing company Hiyacar. After a successful first year, the council expanded the Swale Car Club offering to the town of Sittingbourne.^[26]

Media

In terms of television, Swale is served by BBC South East and ITV Meridian (East) broadcasting from the Bluebell Hill transmitter.^[27]

Local radio stations are:

• BBC Radio Kent on 96.7 FM
• Heart South on 103.1 FM
• SFM Radio (for Sittingbourne) on 106.9 FM^[28]
• BRFM 95.6 FM on 95.6 FM and Sheppey FM 92.2 on 92.2 FM (for the Isle of Sheppey)

Local newspapers are Sittingbourne News Extra,^[29] yourswale, and Sheerness Times Guardian that serves the Isle of Sheppey.

Parishes

Further information: List of civil parishes in Kent

Most of the borough is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Faversham, Queenborough and Sheerness take the style "town council".^[30] The former Sittingbourne and Milton Urban District is an unparished area, as is the Halfway Houses area on Sheppey, being the only part of the pre-1974 borough of Queenborough-in-Sheppey not to have been subsequently added to a parish.^[8]

• Bapchild
• Bobbing
• Borden
• Boughton-under-Blean
• Bredgar
• Doddington
• Dunkirk
• Eastchurch
• Eastling
• Faversham (town)
• Graveney with Goodnestone
• Hartlip
• Hernhill
• Iwade
• Leysdown
• Lower Halstow
• Luddenham
• Lynsted with Kingsdown
• Milstead
• Minster-on-Sea
• Newington
• Newnham
• Norton, Buckland and Stone
• Oare
• Ospringe
• Queenborough (town)
• Rodmersham
• Selling
• Sheerness (town)
• Sheldwich, Badlesmere and Leaveland
• Stalisfield
• Teynham
• Throwley
• Tonge
• Tunstall
• Upchurch
• Warden

Mayors

For the council's first four years it had a chairman rather than a mayor. The chairmen were:

• 1974-75 R. D. Sharrock
• 1975-76 K. H. Burbidge
• 1976-78 R. W. Barnicott

From the grant of borough status in January 1978 onwards the chairman of the council has taken the title of mayor. The mayors have been:

• 1978–78 R. W. Barnicott
• 1978–80 J. M. Elliott
• 1980–81 A. M. North
• 1981–82 T. T. Holden
• 1982–83 L. A. Nash
• 1983–84 H. T. Curling
• 1984–85 William Boggia
• 1985–86 Richard Moreton
• 1986–87 Kenneth Ingleton
• 1987–88 Peter Morgan
• 1988–89 L. T. Vaughan
• 1989–91 Jean Newman
• 1991–92 Keith Evans
• 1992–93 Brian Groves
• 1993–94 Brian Austen
• 1994–95 L. T. Vaughan
• 1995–96 Don Jordan
• 1996–97 Ernest Madgwick
• 1997–98 David Sargent
• 1998–99 Gerry Lewin
• 1999–00 Ann McLean
• 2000–01 Peter Salmon
• 2001–02 Brenda Simpson
• 2002–03 Brenda Hammond
• 2003–04 Mick Constable
• 2004–05 Colin Prescott
• 2005–06 Bryan Mulhern
• 2006–08 John Morris
• 2008–09 Alan Willicombe
• 2009–10 Adrian Crowther
• 2010–11 Steve Worrall
• 2011–12 Ben Stokes
• 2012–13 Pat Sandle
• 2013–14 Sue Gent
• 2014–15 George Bobbin
• 2015–16 Anita Walker
• 2016–17 Lesley Ingham
• 2017–18 Colin Prescott
• 2018–19 Samuel Koffie-Williams
• 2019–20 Kenneth Ingleton
• 2020–22 Paul Stephen
• 2022–23 Simon Clark
• 2023–24 Sarah Stephen
• 2024–25 Ben Martin

Honorary Freemen of the Borough

• 1978 D. Allen
• 1982 D. M. Elvy
• 1986 Bob Geldof^[31]
• 2004 Gerald David Thomsett
• 2004 Peter James Salmon
• 2018 Stephen Mark Brown
• 2021 Peter Morgan
• 2021 Robin Castle^[32][33]