Cllr Steven Patmore

17/06/2026

Another U-Turn!

Conservatives have forced the government to drop their deranged plan to slaughter the Dartmoor ponies.

16/06/2026

Natural England, a government organisation, wants to cull thousands of Dartmoor ponies in the name of ‘biodiversity’.

We cannot let this happen.

Keir Starmer could stop this senseless slaughter. The Labour government must not let an unaccountable quango and its mad ideas kill off Dartmoor’s beloved ponies.

Sign our petition to demand Keir Starmer overrules Natural England, and stops it immediately.

05/06/2026

26/05/2026

I want to address some of the comments and accusations following the Chair and Vice Chair elections at North Herts Council last Thursday.

As one of the Conservative councillors who voted for Keith Hoskins as Chair and Sean Prendergast as Vice Chair, I can say clearly that my vote had absolutely nothing to do with sexism, and to suggest otherwise is both unfair and deeply disappointing.

Keith Hoskins has done an excellent job as Chair over the last year during what have been some very difficult and politically challenging circumstances for the council. He has shown fairness, professionalism and an ability to work constructively across party lines. That experience and stability mattered when making this decision.

Likewise, Sean Prendergast was elected because councillors believed he was the right candidate for the role of Vice Chair.

This was not a vote against Sadie Billing personally. Sadie has worked hard as Vice Chair and I wish her well going forward. However, conventions are exactly that — conventions, not rules. Councillors are elected to use their judgement and vote for who they believe is best suited to the role at that time.

I completely agree with Cllr Ralph Muncer’s comments that the accusations of sexism are “absolutely preposterous”. The reality is that North Herts currently has a minority Labour administration at a crucial time for local government, and many councillors across different groups felt it was important to ensure balanced leadership and maintain confidence across the chamber.

People may disagree with the outcome, and that is perfectly fair in politics, but accusing councillors of sexism simply because they exercised democratic judgement is wrong and risks undermining genuine equality issues.

Labour also failed in a bid to re-elect Cllr Billing as vice-chair, with the position instead going to Liberal Democrat Sean Prendergast.

05/05/2026

As many will be aware, on Thursday (7th May) many across the country will be going to the polls for the local elections.

Whilst there are no elections to Hertfordshire County Council or North Herts Council this year, residents in Knebworth, Codicote and Kimpton received poll cards due to elections to their respective Parish Council taking place.

However, due to the elections in all three Parishes being ‘uncontested’, a poll will not now be taking place on Thursday and therefore, you do not need to go to the polling station and you can discard your poll card.

My congratulations goes to all those Parish Councillors, both old and new, who have been elected and I look forward to continuing to work closely with the Parish Councils in Knebworth, Codicote and Kimpton to try and tackle the issues which matter most to you and your family.

01/05/2026

Oh, behave! We can hardly hold in our excitement!

Kimpton May Festival 2026 is on it's way... celebrating 60 years of May Festivication, what a testament to the village and community!

From all of the Purple Army, we hope you have a fabulous festival weekend!
Yeah, baby, yeah!