The Conservative councillor for Cuxton, Halling & Riverside, who served the borough for more than three decades and held one of Medway Council’s most visible cabinet portfolios for almost twenty years, has died at the age of 74. Tributes have been paid by his Conservative group leader and by the Labour leader of the council.

Cllr Phil Filmer, the long-serving Conservative councillor for Cuxton, Halling & Riverside on Medway Council, has died at the age of 74. Confirmation of his death was issued today, Wednesday 6 May 2026, with Halling Parish Council having shared the news the previous evening. The announcement was followed by tributes from senior figures across the political spectrum on Medway Council.

More than three decades on the borough

Cllr Filmer was first elected to Rochester-upon-Medway City Council in 1991, transferring to the new unitary Medway Council when local government was reorganised in 1998 and continuously serving the authority from 2000. He represented three different wards over that period: All Saints initially, then the Hoo Peninsula ward for around twenty years, and most recently Cuxton, Halling & Riverside, which he won at the May 2023 all-out election following the 2023 boundary review.

His longest single role was as Portfolio Holder for Front Line Services, a brief he held from 2005 until 2023. Front Line Services covered some of the most visible day-to-day work of the council — highways, refuse collection and recycling, street lighting, public transport and the Medway Tunnel — and made him one of the more publicly identifiable cabinet members of the long Conservative administration that ran Medway from 2000 to 2023. Earlier in his cabinet career, from 2003, he held the narrower highways and transport brief. He was credited at the time with the introduction of weekly recycling collections in Medway, the Walking Bus school-travel scheme, and reduced bus fares for younger residents.

Outside the council chamber Cllr Filmer was a farmer and businessman with deep roots on the Hoo Peninsula. He served on the Rochester Bridge Trust, the medieval foundation that maintains the Medway crossings, holding the role of Junior Warden from 2017 to 2021 and Senior Warden from 2021 to 2023. He was also a familiar figure in planning matters and on a range of council committees over the years.

Tributes from across the chamber

Cllr George Perfect, Leader of the Medway Conservative Group, described Cllr Filmer as “dedicated and passionate” and said he was a kind and personable colleague who had worked hard for high-quality services across the borough. “We will miss our colleague, but also our very dear friend,” he said.

Cllr Vince Maple, the Labour Leader of Medway Council, paid tribute from the opposite side of the chamber, saying that Cllr Filmer had been “respected and liked across the political spectrum” and that his commitment to local government was evident throughout his long career. “He will be missed by everyone across the council chamber,” Cllr Maple said.

Halling Parish Council, which had announced the news the previous evening, indicated that a period of remembrance would be observed before any moves toward a by-election. Members of the public who wish to send messages of condolence have been directed to [email protected].

What happens to his ward seat

Cllr Filmer’s death creates a vacancy in Cuxton, Halling & Riverside, a ward that the Conservatives held narrowly at the May 2023 all-out election. On the published count he finished 44 votes ahead of Green Party candidate Matt Nightingale, who polled 641 votes; the result made the seat one of the closer Conservative-held marginals on the new ward map.

Under the Local Government Act 1972 a casual vacancy must be filled by by-election if at least ten registered electors in the ward formally request one within fourteen days of the vacancy being declared. The Returning Officer will set the by-election date in due course; the council’s normal practice is to hold the poll within around eight weeks of the vacancy being declared. Halling Parish Council’s reference to a period of remembrance before any by-election step is a customary courtesy rather than a formal procedural requirement.

The vacancy comes at an unusual moment for Medway as a whole. The borough is one of the local authorities being reshaped under the Government’s Local Government Reorganisation programme, with a final decision on Kent and Medway’s future unitary structure expected in summer 2026 and any new system due to come into force in April 2028 — meaning the councillor elected at any forthcoming by-election would, on current trajectory, serve a relatively short term. KLN’s recent Medway voter’s guide sets out the wider political context.

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