You are, of course, completely correct in that the great majority of people in Medway want a Conservative Council. Perhaps even more telling than the number of seats is the average poll per candidate by party. After all, a seat can be won (or lost) by just one vote more than any other contender, or by thousands of votes. It is a rather coarse way of measuring levels of support.

Well, the average vote for Conservative candidates — win or lose — was 1,244. Labour candidates averaged just 893 votes each, the LibDems 766, and the other parties (BNP, UKIP, English Democrats and Medway Independent) around 300 each.

From the public’s point of view, residents in no fewer than 15 of Medway’s 22 wards can now call upon their Conservative ward councillor(s) if they wish, whereas Labour have council representation in only five wards, and the LibDems just three.

So, what was the secret? I and my two fellow ward candidates helped in five other wards during the campaign, and the biggest difference was attitude. The opposition candidates were being almost entirely negative (which is hardly helpful to Medway or its people) and the Conservatives had many upbeat, positive messages to impart.

Think of it from the elector’s viewpoint: which is more useful to them, now and in the future? Most of the public have also woken up to the repeated deceptions played on them by certain Labour councillors in particular. Like the boy who cried “Wolf!” too often, their credibility has plummeted. It was thus no surprise that one of the seats in River ward changed from Labour to Conservative, and next time it is almost certain that the other will go the same way.

Medway has now passed the point of no return: negative and dishonest campaigning now brings little reward — just the odd seat in Strood North! — and, just like the break-up of the Soviet Union — it is a one-way street. The Medway electorate will never make the old mistakes again — hopefully!