Borough of Maidstone the February 2017 the council has 23 Conservative, 22 Liberal Democrat, 4 UKIP, 4 independent and 2 Labour party councillors. The council is based in the town centre having replaced its many small offices with one large building called Maidstone Gateway. The shopfront appearance is intended to make it easier to access information and services. The third tier of local government is the civil parish; in Maidstone some of the parishes have a neither a parish council or a parish meeting, as indicated (1) : The River Medway was the earliest form of transport through the area. It was navigable
HMS Maidstone (1937) the land, entry to the jetty being guarded by sand-bagged army emplacements. "Maidstone" was also notable for a successful escape by seven Provisional IRA members on 17January 1972. The men swam close to through icy water and evaded army and police only to later hold a press conference. On 23 May 1978 "Maidstone" was broken up for scrap at the Thos W Ward scrapyard in Inverkeithing. HMS Maidstone (1937) HMS "Maidstone" was a submarine depot ship of the Royal Navy. She was built to support the increasing numbers of submarines, especially on distant stations, such as the Mediterranean and the