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Cliftonville
Nation / PlaceGB

Cliftonville

Margate ward in the Thanet district of east Kent; site of the 9 April 2026 KCC by-election won by the Green Party.

Last refreshed: 15 April 2026

Key Question

Is the Cliftonville swing a one-off vacancy effect or the first evidence of Green electoral gains at Reform's expense?

Timeline for Cliftonville

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Common Questions
What happened at the Cliftonville by-election in 2026?
The Green Party won the Cliftonville KCC by-election on 9 April 2026 with a 26.7-point swing from Reform UK. Rob Yates took 2,068 votes to Marc Rattigan's 1,767. The seat was vacated after Reform's Daniel Taylor was jailed.Source: ITV News Meridian
Where is Cliftonville in Kent?
Cliftonville is a ward in Margate, part of the Thanet local government district in east Kent.

Background

Cliftonville is a ward in Margate, in the Thanet district of east Kent. On 9 April 2026 it was the site of a Kent County Council by-election in which Green Party candidate Rob Yates defeated Reform UK's Marc Rattigan, taking 2,068 votes to 1,767 on a 26.7-percentage-point swing from Reform UK, the largest such swing in a Kent county council by-election. Turnout was 37.69%.

The by-election was triggered by the conviction and jailing of Reform's Daniel Taylor, who had won the seat in the May 2025 Kent County Council elections as part of Reform's 57-seat landslide. Taylor was jailed in March 2026 for controlling and coercive behaviour. The vacancy and its causes turned a local ward contest into a nationally watched test of whether Reform's 2025 gains were durable. Green leader Zack Polanski and former co-leader Caroline Lucas both campaigned in Cliftonville, while Robert Jenrick of Reform canvassed for Rattigan.

Cliftonville is one of Margate's more deprived inner wards, with a mixed population including a significant Eastern European community. The ward sits within a wider Thanet district that has been a UKIP and Reform UK target since 2015. The result was the first ballot-box confirmation that YouGov's April 2026 polling showing Labour-Green parity at 16% translates to seats held by another party.