Monday, April 06, 2026
The reality of Reform in power
The paper has spoken to residents, charities and local politicians to understand what impact the party had made a year after they took control of the council:
Reform ended a nearly 30-year Tory reign at Kent County Council (KCC) at last May’s local elections. Party figures promised it would be a “shop window” for how a Reform government could govern in Westminster and Mr Farage promised a "new dawn" in British politics.
But when The Mirror last week spoke to half a dozen people on the high street in Maidstone, Kent, not a single person could say how life had improved in the area. Eileen, 88, said: “Since Reform took over Kent County Council, it’s not been so good. Nothing gets done properly. The roads don't get swept, all things like that.”
Frank, 60, who lives in the area, said: “Nothing has changed. Nothing's got worse. Nothing's got better.” Paul, 70, added: “I can’t say I’ve seen a great deal of difference between the previous council - the Conservatives - to what it is now.”
Those working in local politics in Kent said the Reform administration has been combative, unconstructive and chaotic. More than half a dozen Reform councillors have either quit or left the party since last year’s election.
One of the most notable scandals involved a damaging video leak which showed Reform’s leader in Kent Linden Kemkaran swearing and telling her colleagues to "suck it up" in relation to her decisions on local government reorganisation.
Tory councillor Dan Watkins, who was unseated by Reform at a county level but remains a councillor at Canterbury city council, said Reform's management is the “worst approach” he has seen in seven years in local politics. He said: “Debate is being shut down. Individuals are being personally criticised in the chamber and the whole thing seems just performative for national politics and I think that's a real loss to local democracy.”
He accused local party leaders of engaging in “gesture politics” on issues like immigration - which is controlled by the national government. “What we have at County Hall in Maidstone is Reform just engaging in gesture politics and fomenting an aggressive atmosphere where the whole thing is set up to be about doing down your opponents and scoring some national political points rather than any constructive debate,” he said.
“This is how they run local government. Imagine the horror story that will materialise if they run national government. If it’s a shop window, it’s a shop window to a horror show, isn't it? I really wouldn't wish residents in any other part of the country to have to experience what we are.”
Alister Brady, a Labour councillor at KCC, echoed Mr Watkins’s comments on the culture at Kent, saying: “The leader of Reform would have an argument in an empty room - very combative and doesn't know how to bring people together.” He told The Mirror: “Since Reform took over at Kent County Council, there's just been chaos. It shouldn't be KCC, it's Kent Chaos Council.”
Mr Brady was highly critical of the council’s Department of Local Government Efficiency (Dolge) project, inspired by Elon Musk’s so-called DOGE unit in the US. The scheme - which seeks to cut wasteful spending - has faced a mountain of criticism over the last year.
Reform councillor Matthew Fraser Moat, who was in charge of it, resigned in February after he said the council "had not actually made any cuts" since his party took control. Referring to last June’s launch of the Dolge initiative in Kent - which was attended by national party frontman Zia Yusuf - Mr Brady said: “When Reform - the ‘Dolge’ people from Reform - rolled into Kent County Council, it was like a circus.
“They posed on the stairs. They said, they'll find all this waste, all this corruption…It was nonsense. What Reform do is they do things to get headlines and then you look at their actions and nothing really happens.”
Mr Brady similarly accused Reform of peddling “lies” throughout the election campaign in Kent, during which the party handed out leaflets saying it would cut taxes - before this year approving a 3.99% council tax rise. “They misled residents and I'm hearing on the doorstep that they see that lie,” he added. He also raised concerns that Reform is “overspending” at the council, which he claimed had led to a “very risky” Budget.
Broken promises when it comes to cutting people’s bills can have a real world impact. Rob Foley, charity manager Making a Difference to Maidstone, said pressure on his foodbank services has not eased since Reform came in. “Since Reform have been in, the strain on our services has been the same,” he said.
“I would say that they need to be given a chance. I know they've come in and they've started to look at savings and maybe that one year of looking for savings has been the priority. All I know is pressure keeps building. People keep needing it and we just keep trying to provide that restoration in their lives.”
Asked about Kent being a “shop window” for Reform in Westminster, he added: “If he's saying that Kent is going to be a shop window, then he really needs to sort that display out. Because at the moment, Kent hasn't changed.”
Those thnking of voting Reform on 7th May need to be aware of the party's chaotic record and the damage their can do to the bodies that they are seeling election to.
