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
Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency) the candidate was acquitted, but one of the judges noted that ""there exists among the voters of this borough a number of the lower class who expect, and are known to respect, a payment or reward for their votes... The proved cases of bribery extend through all the wards."" The borough was abolished with effect from the general election of 1918, but the Maidstone name was transferred to the new county division in which the town stood, which consisted of Maidstone itself and the Maidstone and Hollingbourne rural districts. This contained no towns of any size, but the villages collectively