Borough of Swale | |
|---|---|
 Sittingbourne town centre | |
 Swale shown within Kent | |
| Coordinates:51°20′24.73″N0°43′51.32″E / 51.3402028°N 0.7309222°E /51.3402028; 0.7309222 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | South East England |
| Non-metropolitan county | Kent |
| Status | Non-metropolitan district |
| Admin HQ | Sittingbourne |
| Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
| • Body | Swale Borough Council |
| • MPs | Helen Whately (C) Kevin McKenna (L) |
| Area | |
• Total | 144.2 sq mi (373.4 km2) |
| • Rank | 93rd(of 296) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 158,379 |
| • Rank | 140th(of 296) |
| • Density | 1,099/sq mi (424.2/km2) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ONS code | 29UM (ONS) E07000113 (GSS) |
| OS grid reference | TQ9018863720 |
Swale is alocal government district withborough status inKent, England. The council is based inSittingbourne, the borough's largest town. The borough also contains the towns ofFaversham,Queenborough andSheerness, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. It includes theIsle of Sheppey and is named afterThe Swale, the narrow channel which separates Sheppey from the mainland part of the borough. Some southern parts of the borough lie within theKent Downs, a designatedArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The borough borders theMedway unitary authority area to the west, theBorough of Maidstone to the south-west, theBorough of Ashford to the south-east, and theCity of Canterbury to the east. Under proposed reorganisation in either April 2027 or 2028 the borough will face abolition and will join with one or more adjoining councils to form a new Unitary Authority. Details of such proposals are expected in Autumn 2025.
The district was created on 1 April 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972 covering the area of four former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[2]
The new district was named Swale, after the waterway which divides the mainland part of the district from the Isle of Sheppey.[3] The district was awarded borough status on 20 January 1978, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[4]
Swale Borough Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1974 |
| Leadership | |
Larissa Reed since January 2021[6] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 47 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
| Motto | |
| Known By Their Fruits | |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Swale House, East Street,Sittingbourne, ME10 3HT | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Swale Borough Council providesdistrict-level services.County-level services are provided byKent County Council. Most of the borough is also covered bycivil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[7][8]
The council has been underno overall control since 2019. Following the2023 election a coalition ofLabour, local party theSwale Independents, theGreens and an independent councillor formed the council's administration.[9] The coalition separated in December 2024, since when the council has been led by a minority Labour administration.[10]
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[11][12][13]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1974–1976 | |
| Conservative | 1976–1986 | |
| No overall control | 1986–2002 | |
| Conservative | 2002–2019 | |
| No overall control | 2019–present | |
The role ofMayor of Swale is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is instead provided by theleader of the council. The leaders since 2002 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Bowles[14] | Conservative | 2002 | May 2019 | |
| Roger Truelove[15][16] | Labour | 22 May 2019 | 27 Apr 2022 | |
| Mike Baldock[16] | Swale Ind. | 27 Apr 2022 | May 2023 | |
| Tim Gibson[17] | Labour | 17 May 2023 | ||
Following the2023 election, and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was:[18][19][20][21]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 15 | |
| Conservative | 10 | |
| Swale Ind. | 8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 5 | |
| Reform | 5 | |
| Green | 3 | |
| Independent | 1 | |
| Total | 47 | |
The next elections are due in 2027.[21]
Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 47councillors representing 24wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[22]
The council is based at Swale House on East Street in Sittingbourne.[23]
Swale is a mainly rural borough, containing a high proportion of the UK's apple, pear, cherry and plum orchards (the North Kent Fruit Belt[24]), as well as many of its remaining hop gardens. Faversham has theShepherd Neame brewery. Founded in 1698 it is claimed to be oldest brewery in the UK.
Sheerness is a busy port and previously produced steel. Sittingbourne has a variety of smaller industrial sites.
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TheRomanWatling Street passed through the area, as witness the straightness of the A2 main road, now by-passed by theM2 motorway.
There are two railway lines in Swale: theChatham Main Line and theSheerness line, which meet atSittingbourne.
Two adjoining bridges across The Swale link the Isle of Sheppey to the mainland:Kingsferry Bridge and theSheppey Crossing.
In 2022, the council implemented a low-emission car club in the town of Faversham,[25] in partnership with car sharing company Hiyacar. After a successful first year, the council expanded the Swale Car Club offering to the town of Sittingbourne.[26]
In terms of television, Swale is served byBBC South East andITV Meridian (East) broadcasting from theBluebell Hill transmitter.[27]
Local radio stations are:
Local newspapers areSittingbourne News Extra,[29]yourswale, andSheerness Times Guardian that serves the Isle of Sheppey.
Most of the borough is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Faversham, Queenborough and Sheerness take the style "town council".[30] The former Sittingbourne and Milton Urban District is anunparished area, as is theHalfway Houses area on Sheppey, being the only part of the pre-1974 borough of Queenborough-in-Sheppey not to have been subsequently added to a parish.[8]
For the council's first four years it had a chairman rather than a mayor. The chairmen were:
From the grant of borough status in January 1978 onwards the chairman of the council has taken the title of mayor. The mayors have been:
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| Other | |
