The job has not been vacant for 15 years. But now Tories on Medway Council are considering who will succeed Rodney Chambers as their leader.

Cllr Chambers announced he was standing down following his party's resounding victory in last week's election when they increased their majority at Gun Wharf. He has been the only leader in the unitary authority's history.

His right-hand man and finance chief, deputy leader Cllr Alan Jarrett, has said he would be challenging for his boss's role at full council meeting on May 27.

He said: “What I’ll bring is a real sharp focus on things that matter – not that we haven’t had already.”

Cllr Jarrett said he would build on what Cllr Chambers had achieved and bring a “continued focus” on dealing with finance “as effectively as we can because that filters through to service delivery”.

He said: “I’m quite a driven person, and I’ll make sure all members are involved in delivering for Medway.”

The indications were that Cllr Jarrett would find strong support among senior Tories in Medway – but it might not be a one-horse race.

Cllr Trevor Clarke, councillor for Rochester South and Horsted, would not confirm he was standing for leadership – saying the deadline for nominations was on Friday – but added: “It’s something I have a strong interest in.”

But Cllr Mike O’Brien said Cllr Jarrett was “the natural successor and has my full support,” adding: “I’m sure there’s lots of mischief-making floating around, but you’re not going to get anything out of me other than that.”

Cllr Howard Doe also said he would back Cllr Jarrett because of his loyal support for Rodney Chambers and mastery of financial issues, whereas he felt Cllr Clarke lacked experience. He said: “He’s an able man but you can’t run before you can walk. He could end up being sorry. I think Alan Jarrett will be accepted generally.”

Cllr O’Brien and Cllr Doe ruled themselves out of the running, as did Cllr Adrian Gulvin.
He also cited Cllr Jarrett’s skill with finance, saying: “He kept the council finances in good order over a difficult period. There’s another side to Alan Jarrett – he’s actually a very compassionate and caring person as well. He tends to hide that, but there’s more depth to him.

“Trevor’s a very capable guy. I’ve got a great deal of respect for him, but I don’t think he’s got the depth of experience.”

River ward councillor Andrew Mackness said Cllr Jarrett would make a good leader and ruled himself out of the running.He said he was considering other options, including standing for Kent police and crime commissioner next year.