Crucial Sevenoaks Council Meeting

The Conservative leader of Sevenoaks District Council is likely to lose his job at a full council meeting on Tuesday.

Cllr Roddy Hogarth has been “considering” his position since he lost a vote of no confidence last month.

Now it's understood that a meeting has been held of the Conservative group where the leadership was decided with the outcome to be revealed on Tuesday.

The Conservatives lost control of Sevenoaks District Council in May when nine members left to form the West Kent Independents after months of tensions and unhappiness with Cllr Hogarth’s leadership.

SIMON FINLAY of the Local Democracy Reporting Service adds:

An item at next Tuesday’s full council meeting (November 18) contains the statement: “Following notification of the resignation of the leader of the council, as set out within the constitution it is a function of full council to make the appointment.”

Despite this insertion into the agenda under the recommendation “to elect the leader of the council”, Cllr Hogarth maintains he is “still the leader”.

But he claimed the resignation may not come into force until November 18 after a vote.

He added: “The alternative would be to remove the leader and that was thought to be unnecessarily damaging to the council’s reputation to do that.”

If his resignation is put to the vote, Cllr Hogarth, who has been in post since 2024, may not survive.

The Conservatives currently have 24 members, the Liberal Democrats 14, Went Kent Independents (WKIs) nine, Green Party four and three other independents.

The WKIs tabled the motion of no confidence.

Asked if he believes he has the numbers to survive, Cllr Hogarth said: “Not sure. The Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and the independents vote in their own tactical way and that’s a matter for the council.

“We have to deal with the consequences of the vote of no confidence in the most responsible and least damaging way.”

After the resignation item appeared in the full council agenda papers, the Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Alan Leaman said: “Like a struggling football club, the Sevenoaks Conservatives have now sacked two leaders in short succession and they want to impose another one before Christmas. But this deals with the symptoms, and not the cause of their problems.

“The district council is facing many tough challenges after decades of Conservative failure. It needs more than a new Leader. It needs a fresh and modern approach to leadership, and a new set of policies that respond to the real needs of residents.”

Lib Dem county councillor Richard Streatfeild said: “I just don’t know how Roddy can say he has not resigned when in it’s in the papers. This council needs leadership, not a vacuum.”