Hold onto your ballots – Yesterday (Thursday 1st May) wasn’t just another excuse to post your dog at a polling station. Seats on Worcestershire County Council were up for grabs, and your vote helped decide who gets to tinker with potholes, bus timetables, and library hours for the next four years.
Locally, the political bunfight was on in places like Croome, Hallow, Malvern Chase, Langland, Link, Trinity, Powick & Longdon, and Tenbury – and yes, that’s basically everywhere with a village hall and at least three angry residents with clipboards.
Polls shut at 10pm sharp (hope you made it), and the counting kicked off on Friday – hopefully with snacks and minimal recount drama.
Worcestershire County Council is the upper-tier boss of local government – handling the big stuff like:
- 📚 Libraries (shh!)
- 🚗 Highways (we see you, Ketch roundabout)
- 👵 Social care
- 🚸 Education
- and other vital services that make your day either smooth… or deeply inconvenient.
And Here’s Who Was Vying for Your Precious X in Croome:
✅ Martin Allen – Green Party
A Royal Navy veteran of the Falklands War, Martin’s been repping the area and aiming to stay on board. Think duty, service, and plenty of local mileage.
🌹 Juma Begum – Labour Party
We couldn’t find a statement from Juma, so you’re invited to take a deep dive into Labour’s manifesto. That’s probably what they’d want you to do anyway.
🔶 John Drage – Liberal Democrats
John’s gone full manifesto-mode and left it to the national party to explain things. He’s with the Lib Dems. You know the vibe.
🔵 Sarah Caroline McDermott – Conservative & Unionist Party
Born and raised in Upton on Severn as part of the Harker family – Sarah’s all about those local roots. No policy promises, but plenty of hometown pride.
💥 Russ Varley – Reform UK
Came in strong with:
No more housebuilding!
Build that £1M sports centre in Kempsey
Doctor surgeries open longer
Buses that actually show up
More bobbies for rural crime
Bold, specific, and very much not here for vague pledges.
And speaking of coming in hot… as we watch results roll in across the UK, it looks like Reform UK is making some serious waves in the local elections. Could we see Martin Allen knocked off his perch after years at the helm? Could Russ Varley swoop in with his no-nonsense pledges and give the village some actual real change – and maybe even a sports centre that doesn’t live only in planning documents?
Anything’s possible when the votes are counted and the political chairs get reshuffled. Stay tuned for the results – and whether your favourite candidate gets the seat, or just a long awkward silence at the count.
Need the post-election tea? Keep your eyes on kempsey.co.uk – we’ll be serving it fresh (and occasionally cheeky).
Side Note for Labour Voters:
Don’t panic – Sir Keir “Captain Beige” Starmer is still at the helm for the next four years, steering HMS Britain straight through the fog with all the excitement of a decaf tea on a rainy Tuesday. The man could walk into a room full of fireworks and somehow make it feel like a policy seminar.
And let’s be honest – under this lot, the UK is currently enjoying The Great Slog™: sky-high prices, services slower than a snail in a sleeping bag, and more red tape than a Boxing Day sale at Hobbycraft. You’re not imagining it – your bin day did move again, your GP’s still offering appointments in 2047, and yes, that pothole outside your house is now deep enough to register as a postcode.
But chin up – it’s not all doom. There’s always the faint twinkle of hope at the end of the tunnel (or at least a functioning bus that doesn’t reek of mystery meat and despair).
In the meantime, maybe vote local for a bit of actual movement – or at least a councillor who replies to emails and doesn’t dodge questions like it’s the Olympics.
