Rob Yates
Green Party councillor who won the Cliftonville KCC by-election 9 April 2026 from Reform UK with a 26.7-point swing.
Last refreshed: 15 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Does Yates's 26.7-point swing mean Green polling parity with Labour is converting to actual seats across England?
Timeline for Rob Yates
Won Cliftonville Kent CC by-election with 2,068 votes
UK Local Elections 2026: Greens flip Kent seat from Reform UKMentioned in: Reform Kent group falls from 57 to 47
UK Local Elections 2026- Who won the Cliftonville by-election in Kent 2026?
- Rob Yates of the Green Party won the Cliftonville KCC by-election on 9 April 2026 with 2,068 votes, beating Reform UK's Marc Rattigan by 301 votes on a 26.7-point swing.Source: ITV News Meridian
- What happened to the Reform UK councillor in Cliftonville?
- Daniel Taylor, the Reform UK councillor elected for Cliftonville in May 2025, was jailed in March 2026 for controlling and coercive behaviour, vacating the seat and triggering the by-election.Source: Searchlight Magazine
- How big was the Green Party swing in the Kent by-election?
- The Cliftonville by-election produced a 26.7-percentage-point swing from Reform UK to the Green Party, the largest swing recorded in a Kent County Council by-election.Source: ITV News Meridian
Background
Rob Yates is a Green Party candidate who won the Cliftonville ward by-election for Kent County Council on 9 April 2026, taking 2,068 votes against Reform UK's Marc Rattigan on 1,767 votes. The result represented a 26.7-percentage-point swing from Reform UK to the Greens on 37.69% turnout, the largest by-election swing recorded in a Kent council contest. The seat had been held by Reform's Daniel Taylor until his conviction and jailing in March 2026.
The Cliftonville victory is the first ballot-box test of YouGov's April 2026 polling showing Labour and the Greens level at 16% nationally. It showed that national polling movement translates to local results in the right conditions: a seat vacated by a Reform scandal, a marginal ward in Thanet, and campaigns by national figures including former Green co-leader Caroline Lucas on the Green side and Robert Jenrick of Reform UK for their candidate. Yates's win reduced Reform UK's Kent County Council group from 57 seats (won in May 2025) to 47, with ten having departed by resignation, expulsion or now this defeat before any new vote was cast.