Worthwhile weariness

Some of the weary members of Chatham & Aylesford's Local Government Committee at the end of tonight's meeting to finalise selections for next year's local elections in the Chatham wards.  This was the third and final round of the contest, with applicants having gone through an assessment evening, then one to one interviews to join the "approved list" and tonight the final round of contested ward-by-ward selections.

Nearly fifteen new candidates have come forward for selection in C&A this year. Tonight's meeting saw contests for two seats - each with five outstanding applicants.

My thanks to all the volunteers who have given up many evenings assessing, interviewing and selecting our next generation of candidates and councillors.And thanks too to our candidates, many of whom have never been involved in politics but who put in amazing performances at the various stages of the selection process.