By 1903 moves began to take place: that year saw the creation of the Borough of Gillingham, to which, in 1928, the adjoining parish of Rainham was added.

This led to Gillingham Council voting to leave the committee, as it believed the three towns should go forward as equal partners.

The motion to disband was passed on the casting vote of the chairman, Alderman Semple from Chatham.

[4] Under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 the City of Rochester, the Borough of Chatham and part of Strood Rural District were amalgamated to form the Borough of Medway, a local government district in the county of Kent.

Medway Council apparently only became aware of this when they discovered that Rochester was not on the Lord Chancellor's Office's list of cities.

In 2010, it started to refer to the "City of Medway" in promotional material, but it was rebuked and instructed not to do so in future by the Advertising Standards Authority.

[12] Ultimately Medway was unsuccessful with the eventual winners being Chelmsford (Essex), Perth (Perthshire), and St Asaph (Denbighshire).

Parts of the borough (generally the more rural north and south-west) are included in civil parishes, which form an additional tier of local government for their areas.

The leaders since 1998 have been:[19] Following the 2023 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to July 2024, the composition of the council was:[20] Five of the independents sit together as the 'Independent Group'.

[23] The building has a Chatham postal address, but was in the borough of Gillingham prior to the creation of Medway in 1998.