Tim has lived and worked in Sandgate (on Sandgate High Street) since 2004.
A trustee of the Sandgate Heritage Trust, Secretary of the Sandgate Members Club, Treasurer and Trustee of the Chichester Memorial Hall, former Trustee of the Gurkha Memorial Fund and former Governor of St Martin's School, and current Sandgate Speedwatch volunteer, Tim knows and works for the area!
Tim is honoured and delighted to have been elected as:
In May 2025 Tim won the Kent County Council seat from the Conservatives. He was the only non-Reform Councillor elected that day anywhere in Folkestone & Hythe, Dover & Deal, Ashford or Thanet.
In May 2023 Tim was re-elected to all the above town and district seats for four more years. At the District Council AGM on 24th May 2023, he became Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Governance.
Previously, Tim has served on Folkestone Town Councillor for Cheriton from 2006-2011, and Shepway District Councillor for Cheriton from 2007-2011, Kent County Councillor for Folkestone West from 2009-2013. He has sat on Sandgate Parish Council for Sandgate Village since 2011, was the Vice Chair of Sandgate Parish Council from 2018-2020 and Chair from 2020 to date.
Contact Tim by email to tim@prater.uk, call 07956 276118 or write to 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone CT20 3BY. As a District Councillor he runs monthly surgeries at the 1st Sandgate Farmers and Makers Market of every month at the Chichester Hall, 70 Sandgate High Street from 11am-12.30pm (and has each month since election in 2019). No appointment needed: just turn up.
Question to Cabinet Member for Strategic Services: Please could the Cabinet Member confirm what the arrangements are this year for identifying which households have paid for Garden Waste collection for 2010-11, and whether a sticker needs to be displayed on the brown-lidded bin to ensure collection?
Folkestone West County Councillor Tim Prater and Cheriton and Morehall PCSO Keith Sansum will be holding a joint community surgery at Cheriton Library, Cheriton High Street CT19 4HB from 1.30 - 2.30pm on 30th April and 28th May.
KENT COUNTY COUNCIL / KENT & MEDWAY FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY
There has been a rise in the number of children applying for a Kent primary school place compared to a year ago. 14,920 applications for school places were received by the January closing date - an increase of 190.
I'm regularly asked how to get a website to update Twitter. Prater Raines are currently working on a new version of our Lib Dem Foci website service that will make this much simpler for our users of that service, but it's already possible using a very helpful application called www.friendfeed.com
Liberal Democrat County Councillors Tim Prater and Trudy Dean have submitted a motion to the next full Kent County Council meeting calling for all items of revenue expenditure by the Council above £1,000 to be published. The proposals mirror the actions of the Greater London Authority, who took a similar step after Mayor Boris Johnson was elected.
Sign up to receive regular Councillor Updates from Tim Prater and the Lib Dem Councillor team in Folkestone & Hythe. It's fast and free! This will sign you up only to local news from the area, NOT campaigns and campaigning events. To receive everything, including local news AND campaigning updates from the Lib Dems (still free!) sign up at https://www.fhld.uk/sign-up-for-updates
Tim's Council Record of Service
| Council | Seat | Dates | Years |
| Kent County Council | Folkestone West | 2009-2013 | 4 |
| Kent County Council | Cheriton, Sandgate and Hythe East | 2025- | |
| Shepway District Council | Cheriton | 2007-2011 | 4 |
| Folkestone and Hythe District Council | Sandgate & West Folkestone | 2019- | 6 |
| Sandgate Parish Council | Sandgate Village | 2011- | 14 |
| Folkestone Town Council | Cheriton | 2006-2011 | 5 |
| Folkestone Town Council | Folkestone Harvey West | 2019- | 6 |
| Hythe Town Council | Hythe East | 2019- | 6 |
| 45 |
