by Martin Jefferies

Thanet Labour leader Clive Hart (pictured, right) proved one of the highest profile casualties in the area's Kent County Council (KCC) elections, after he was ousted from his seat by a rampant Conservative party.

Mr Hart and fellow Labour candidate Iris Johnston failed to claim either seat in the Margate and Cliftonville district, as Cllrs Chris Wells and Michael Jarvis swept to victory.

The pair left Margate's Winter Gardens soon after the result was confirmed at the venue.

Cllrs Wells and Jarvis claimed 2493 and 2404 nominations respectively - a margin of around 300 over Labour.

Cllr Wells said: "Three weeks ago when we were out canvassing, it seemed that voters wanted to kick anyone who was a politician. It's therefore a fantastic achievement and a great result for us."

Labour's Alan Poole (pictured above, far right) also lost his seat in the Ramsgate district, where he was swept aside by the returning John Kirby (Con).

Cllr Liz Green is now the only Thanet Labour councillor remaining at County Hall after coming second to Cllr Kirby by around 400 votes.

She said: "I'm shell-shocked; today's results have had an awful impact on a number of my hard-working colleagues.

"I don't think the results reflect the calibre of our local Labour candidates and we've taken a hammering that we don't really deserve."

The Birchington and Villages district was the first to be declared this afternoon - veteran councillor Charles Hibberd (Con) retained his seat with support from more than 2,000 voters.

He said: "I'm a little tired after three weeks of fairly intensive campaigning. But all the hard work has paid off. The election trail was tough but the result wasn't as close as we had expected."

Labour came fourth out of the four Birchington and Villages candidates, with Denise Cartwright taking a fifth of the votes scored by Cllr Hibberd.

The Tories soon made it two out of two when Robert Burgess won the Margate West vote for the second year in a row.

He said: "I'm ecstatically pleased. I've worked hard for the past four years, campaigning on local issues that matter to local people.

"To come away from today with a much-increased majority is more than I could have hoped for."

UKIP candidate Roz Parker chased Cllr Burgess into second place, although she fell some 853 votes short.

Conservative Cllrs Bob Bayford and Bill Hayton retained their seats in Broadstairs and Sir Moses Montefiore, amassing more than 8,200 votes between them.

Liberal Democrat Louisa Latham proved their closest rival, although she took less than half the votes scored by second-placed Cllr Hayton.

Labour finished last of the six candidates, with Jenny Matterface taking 1,542 votes.