by Nathan Rao

Voters are heading to the polls today (Thursday) to have their say as to who they want pulling the strings in Kent for the next four years.

It is also your chance to decide who represents you in Europe as it is polling day for both Kent County Council and European Parliament.

With the recent furore over MPs’ expenses it’s unclear whether that will provoke a higher or lower than normal turnout. Some say the antics of certain members of the House of Commons are likely to encourage more people to leave their sofas to make a protest vote while others predict the battering that politicians have taken in recent weeks means voters have suffered political fatigue and so will stay at home.

On the KCC front the Conservatives currently hold 57 of the 84 seats that are being contested today (Thursday) across the county.

The borough has seven seats up for grabs in the county council election.

Of those five are held by the Conservatives and two by Labour.

All three main parties are contesting each of the divisions with the Green Party fielding candidates in Faversham and Swale East.

There are two BNP candidates standing in Sheerness and Sheppey.

Polling stations across the district will be open until 10pm.