The new leader of Dover District Council (DDC) has revealed his plan for the cabinet, after his party took the authority from the Conservatives.

Kevin Mills (Lab), a civil servant and PCS union official, will be the next leader of the authority which serves Dover, Deal and Sandwich after his party took out the Tories at the polls on May 5.

Labour won 17 seats, enough for a wafer-thin majority on the 32-seat local council, and a significant increase on their previous 10.

The Conservatives’ previous majority with 20 seats was knocked down to 14, with the last remaining seat going to an independent candidate.

Former leader of the council Trevor Bartlett (Con) held on to his seat as member for Little Stour and Ashstone, unlike ousted Tory leaders in Canterbury and Folkestone and Hythe.

Speaking on his plans for his new cabinet, Buckland representative Cllr Mills, who has sat on DDC since 1991, said: “There is experience there, I feel there’s a good gender balance, and there’s some youth there as well.

“It’s a very steady cabinet.

“I think they’ll have a firm hand on the tiller.

“I can rely on all of them, and more importantly the district can rely on them.”

Cllr Mills added that the new council’s immediate priorities are housing and the cost-of-living crisis, on which they’re currently working on a “detailed” plan.

The names of cabinet members are technically nominations which will be confirmed at the council’s annual meeting tonight (Wednesday, May 17), but given that Labour holds a majority, they are likely to all be approved.

The cabinet member nominations for DDC are:

Kevin Mills (Buckland) – leader of the council

Jamie Pout (newly elected councillor for Aylesham, Eythorne and Shepherdswell) – deputy leader of the council and portfolio holder for transport, licensing and regulatory services

Charlotte Zossender (Buckland) – portfolio holder for community and corporate property

Susan Beer (North Deal) – portfolio holder for finance, governance, digital and climate change

Pamela Brivio (Tower Hamlets) – portfolio holder for social housing, port health, skills & education

Edward Biggs (Town and Castle) – portfolio holder for planning and environment

Gordon Cowan (St. Radigunds) – chair of the council

David Cronk (Middle Deal) – vice chair of the council