Sevenoaks Council have published the list of candidates for the parish and district council elections on 2 May, and similarly Dartford Borough Council for Longfield parish.
District Council (Hartley and Hodsoll Street Ward)
There are 5 candidates for the 3 council seats, 3 Conservative and 2 Green. There is some indication that Conservative and Labour are struggling to find candidates even (in the case of the Conservatives) in an area that usually votes for them. Labour has fielded someone who lives in Swanley as a candidate in New Ash Green, while the Conservatives are running their county councillor for Dartford East in Hartley. It seems that one of the current councillors for Hartley has been moved by the Conservatives to fight Hextable for them.
The election might as well not be happening though, as of the day before polling day, I have received no leaflet from either party standing. I understand some parts of Hartley may have received a leaflet from the parish council group.
Parish Council
There will be no parish council elections in Hartley, Longfield Ash or Fawkham. Hartley will be run by the usual "one party" of the "Putting Hartley First" slate of candidates who have controlled the council since 2003. All are existing councillors with the exception of Perry Cole, who is also standing for the district council as a Conservative.
One innovation introduced by the government in 2018 is that candidates do not have to publish their address, but just give the district they live in. If they do this, it means electors won't know if they live in the ward they are trying to represent. One candidate for the parish council chose to do this, so from the list of nominations it is unclear whether or not they live in Hartley. The list of candidates who will be automatically elected for Hartley are:
Larry Abraham
Christopher Alford
Sheila Bennett
Penny Cole
Perry Cole
Lesley Driscoll
Annette Ewing
David Graeme
Mally Malham
Matt Mohr
Anne Oxtoby
Ian Ross
Vince Sewell