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.
The County Council elections are not JUST about getting a Councillor who works hard through the year, keeps in touch, and gets things done (although I hope, and think, I am that Councillor).
Letter distributed in Sandgate yesterday with revised details of the arrangements for filming of "Pistol" in Sandgate on 1st May. Thought it might be easier for some to read like this than a photo of a letter!
Local authorities have been administering the Local Restrictions Support Grants (LRSG) and the Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG) schemes on behalf of government since last November. Through the LRSG scheme mandatory grants have been awarded to eligible businesses in the district which are in the business rates system, while other businesses impacted by the pandemic have been catered for through the Folkestone & Hythe ARG discretionary scheme.
A number of Hythe residents asked me to review and comment on planning application 21/0553/FH (Land Opposite 24, Station Road, Hythe). I have done so today, and my comments were as follows:
Do you have some special memories of Folkestone you'd like to share for a new community project?
In October the Lib Dem Group of Tim Prater and Gary Fuller proposed to Folkestone and Hythe District Council a motion on Fireworks. It got massive majority support from Council - 27 votes for, none against, 2 abstentions. It read:
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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 |
Tim works hard for our area all year around, not just at election time.
He also keeps in touch with what he is doing via:
