Former South Kesteven District Council leader Kelham Cooke talks about the next steps after losing his Conservative seat
Ousted council leader Kelham Cooke says he has no regrets about his time in charge, despite losing his seat.
With his eyes on the goal of sitting on all three local authorities – Stamford Town Council, South Kesteven District Council and Lincolnshire County Council – he admits it was a shock to lose his district council seat in the May 4 elections.
As a staunch Conservative, Kelham was worried the party would lose seats but he wasn’t prepared for what followed.
“We always knew it was going to be a tough night and my expectations were that we were going to lose a few seats but certainly not to the extent we did. It was a shocking night for us and it was a shock for me personally, although I’ve never taken the support I’ve received for granted.
“Politics is a game and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.”
Kelham believes a mixture of local and national issues led to his district council downfall but says national issues were not brought up on people’s doorsteps when he was canvassing. He refuses to be drawn on commenting on how nationally the Tory party dealt with the coronavirus pandemic. He is proud though of how it was dealt with locally by SKDC.
“We are going to make mistakes at times. I have had amazing times as a district councillor but we have also had some really tough times and I don’t have any major regrets about my time as leader,” Kelham said.
The past four years as leader have not been without their challenges and Kelham believes that his decision to withdraw the promised funding for a £10m refurbishment of Deepings Leisure Centre, where he swam as a teenager, contributed to his downfall. Despite this, it is a decision he stands by, saying there was no other option after years with no investment.
Despite getting teary-eyed on the evening, Kelham wishes Vanessa Smith and Rosemary Trollope-Bellew, his successors in the Casewick ward, which covers Uffington and Barholm on the outskirts of Stamford, every success.
“I have represented Casewick for 12 years and I want them to succeed in supporting our residents,” Kelham said.
Coun Smith, a new mum standing for the Green party, won 1,057 votes, and Coun Trollope-Bellew, a fellow Tory who left the group in January but stood as a Conservative, received 709 votes to Kelham’s 688 votes.
The results on May 4 left no party with overall control. Ahead of a district council meeting yesterday (Thursday) to decide the leader and the cabinet, two alliance groups had formed to do battle – one made up of the 24 Tories and three Independents, led by Graham Jeal (Con – Grantham St Vincent’s), and another made up of everyone else and led by Independent Richard Cleaver, who represents Stamford St John’s. The group led by Coun Cleaver went on to win.
Had he won, Kelham (speaking beforehand) said he also would have been exploring opportunities to partner with other councillors.
“I would absolutely have done my best to keep it under Conservative control. I know conversations have been ongoing. I think it will come down to a single vote.
“But whoever comes in next has a difficult task ahead – no matter what, they have to find £2m savings. It’s going to be an interesting time.”
Born in Chesterfield but moving to the area as a youngster, Kelham was educated at Kirkstone House School in Baston and Stamford School. He became a familiar face to Stamford residents in 2010 when he took a weekend job at the town’s Waitrose store, while he was studying for his business and economics degree at Nottingham Trent University. It was at this time, aged 20, that he became involved with the Conservative Party while helping out at the 2010 General Election. After university, he joined Waitrose full-time, working on the ‘community matters’ green token scheme, organising events with local charities and getting experience in communications.
He was elected to South Kesteven District Council in 2011 and spent part of his 21st birthday in his first council meeting.
He worked his way up, making allies in the party, learning on the job and became deputy leader in 2017. He eventually took the top job on the district council in September 2019 after his colleague and close friend Matthew Lee resigned suddenly. Just six months later, the country was plunged into a national lockdown and Kelham found himself at the epicentre of an authority tasked with providing support to businesses and residents, alongside newly-appointed chief executive officer Karen Bradford. He cites this as one of the things he is most proud of, saying the district council gave £52m of funding to 3,000 businesses.
Today (Friday, May 19) marks his 33rd birthday and once again he will spend the occasion sitting in a council meeting, albeit for Lincolnshire County Council where he has represented Stamford East since 2017.
Despite his district council defeat, Kelham did win election on May 4 to Stamford Town Council. It will be his first at parish level.
“Stamford is my hometown and I attend the meetings anyway. I value the town council because it deals with the services that are important to the town and make up the community,” said Kelham. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
Many people, he says, don’t understand the roles each of the authorities has to play and he believed having a role on all three would help him resolve issues for his constituents more quickly. Long-term he supports devolution and thinks that town and parish councils, which at the moment have very limited powers, could become responsible for more while upper tier authorities become responsible for strategy and scrutiny.
He says district council decisions while he was in power to hand over assets like the Red Lion Square toilets in Stamford “safeguards them” and believes that a town council being formed in Grantham will be “an extremely good thing”.
He may have only just achieved a role at the lowest level of politics, but he has his eye on the biggest prize and is considering putting himself forward to become an MP. It’s a long process and he isn’t taking selection for granted. He knows first hand how difficult holding such a role would be having previously worked for former Stamford and Grantham MP Nick Boles. He still works part-time as a constituency support officer for current incumbent Gareth Davies.
“I am still very passionate about politics and I have the political bug, so of course I am thinking about what the future could hold,” Kelham said.
Looking back over his time as a district councillor, Kelham said one of the major changes had been a “polarisation in viewpoints”. He has been on the receiving end of threats to his life and he has alarms in his Stamford home. He uses social media but doesn’t look at comments made about him.
“It is hard when you’re making difficult decisions. In whatever town you go to the in district, everyone thinks they have the worst deal. I would love to be able to wave a magic wand and provide opportunities for everyone. But I can’t and difficult decisions don’t please everyone.
“Oppose me on the policy but don’t make it personal.”
After the stress of holding the top job, Kelham plans to holiday with friends in the coming weeks.
“It has given me an opportunity to find the next challenge and I am passionate about regeneration, housing and development. I have served on a national board for the Local Government Association and that is where I’d like to work next,” Kelham said.
“The last four years have been the most stressful but also the most rewarding, leading the council through a pandemic and a cost of living crisis.
“My ambition was always to leave the council in a better place than I found it. I think I have done what I set out to achieve.”
