Shepway Green Party is hoping to build on its recent success in local elections with a roster of candidates for the county council elections on 1 May that includes two local teachers, a business owner and the leader of Folkestone & Hythe District Council.
The Green Party holds the majority on Hythe Town Council and its success at the local elections in 2023 saw Folkestone & Hythe District Council become the first Green-led authority in Kent. The party has held Hythe West – one of the six Kent County Council divisions in the district up for election on 1 May – since 2023 and first won it in 2013.
Roy Smith, a part-time art and photography teacher at Folkestone School for Girls, who has lived in Hythe for more than 30 years, is hoping to take over from Jenni Hawkins in Hythe West.
Having worked with young people all his working life, Roy wants to be a voice for them at Kent County Council, whose savage cuts in funding have threatened Hythe Youth Club and much more besides. He also wants to represent local people’s other concerns over affordable housing, over-development and water quality.
Councillor Jim Martin, Leader of Folkestone & Hythe District Council, is standing in Elham Valley, where the Green Party came a close second in 2021. He was one of the first Green councillors elected to the district council in 2019 and became Leader in 2023 when the Greens became the largest party on the council.
Jim first became interested in local politics as Chair of the Save Princes Parade campaign. He continued the fight as a Hythe town and district councillor and in 2023 was able to announce that the unpopular seafront development in Hythe would not go ahead. As Leader of Folkestone & Hythe District Council he has worked closely with community groups, parish and town councils in Elham Valley. A chartered surveyor by profession, Jim is passionate about making development as sustainable as possible.
Momtaz Khanom is standing in Cheriton, Sandgate & Hythe East. She lives in Sandgate and grew up in Folkestone. Momtaz worked in customer services for Kent County Council and for the benefits team at the then Shepway District Council before going into teaching, working at Palmarsh Primary, then the former Highview School for children with complex needs and now Mundella Primary.
Momtaz wants to ensure that all children and young people have access to open spaces, leisure facilities and libraries and is also concerned about their road safety. She is also keen to tackle loneliness among older people, to improve their quality of life, mental and physical health.
Cheriton district councillor Rebecca Shoob is standing in Folkestone West. Rebecca was first elected to Folkestone & Hythe District Council in 2019 and since 2023 has been the Cabinet member for Housing & Homelessness.
She has lived in Folkestone since 2012 and has known the area for most of her life, her parents having grown up in Hythe. She started her career in the travel industry before moving into project management. Rebecca has volunteered with advice charities and refugee projects and was one of the founders of Incredible Edible in Cheriton, whose volunteers maintain planters on the high street and at Folkestone West train station.
Marianne Brett is standing in Folkestone East. She stood as the party’s General Election candidate in 2024, achieving a record share of the vote for the party locally. Marianne leads sustainability and environmental work at a structural, civil and geotechnical engineering company, monitoring the carbon footprint of every building design it takes on.
She lives in the east end of Folkestone and enjoys her allotment, swimming in the sea and cycling in the countryside as well as being active in several local arts and sports community organisations and has supported Shepway Green Party’s unprecedented local success as its membership officer.
Malcolm Watkinson is standing in Romney Marsh, where he has lived for nearly 40 years and has long been a business owner. His manufacturing company produces critical equipment for the water and renewable energy industries – something of a personal passion for Malcolm, who designed and built his first heat pump when he was 18 years old and later designed his own experimental solar water heating system for his bungalow.
Malcolm is a patron of JAM on the Marsh and is actively involved with the maintenance and preservation of some of the historic Marsh churches.
Councillor Jim Martin (left) and Councillor Rebecca Shoob (second right) leafletting in Sellindge with North Downs district councillors and volunteers.
