In the
2021 election, the
Conservatives won 62 seats, giving them a majority and control of the council. The
Labour Party were the second biggest party with 7 seats, followed by the
Liberal Democrats with 6 seats and the
Greens with 1 seat. Mike Baldock of the
Swale Independents was elected in Swale West. Several
by-elections took place between the 2021 and 2025 elections: In March 2024, councillor Trevor Shonk of Ramsgate left the
Conservative Party to join the Thanet Independents. Later that month, councillor Mike Whiting of Sheppey was suspended from the Conservatives following a
drink driving conviction and sat the rest of his term as an independent. In the
2024 general election, the
Labour Party won 10 of the Kent seats from the Conservatives (
Ashford,
Chatham and Aylesford,
Dartford,
Dover and Deal,
Folkestone and Hythe,
Gillingham and Rainham,
Gravesham,
Rochester and Strood,
Sittingbourne and Sheppey and
East Thanet), while retaining
Canterbury. The
Liberal Democrats won
Tunbridge Wells from the Conservatives, who retained
Faversham and Mid Kent,
Maidstone and Malling,
Herne Bay and Sandwich,
Sevenoaks and
Tonbridge while winning the new
Weald of Kent seat. Overall, of the Kent seats, the Labour Party won 11, the Conservative Party won 6 and the Liberal Democrats won 1. In October 2024, councillor Barry Lewis of Margate was deselected by the
Labour Party for the upcoming election citing "concerning comments" and allegations of election betting, leading him to leave the party and serve the rest of his term as an independent. In January 2025, councillor Dirk Ross of Ashford South left the
Conservative Party to sit as an independent. ==Previous council composition==