Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Chaos in Kent
The paper says that footage of an online meeting in which Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran could be seen berating backbench councillors when they questioned her was leaked to the press on Saturday:
Four Reform UK councillors have been suspended after a video was leaked to the press showing the leader of the party’s flagship local authority telling council members to “suck it up”.
Reform UK took control of Kent County Council (KCC) after winning 57 of the 81 seats at the local elections in May, overturning a 30-year Tory majority.
Footage of an online meeting in which KCC leader Linden Kemkaran could be seen berating backbench councillors when they questioned her was leaked to the press on Saturday.
A Reform UK spokesperson said: “Cllrs Paul Thomas, Oliver Bradshaw, Bill Barrett and Maxine Fothergill have had the whip suspended pending investigation, following evidence that they brought the party into disrepute.”
Doorstepped by the BBC on Monday and asked about the suspensions, Cllr Kemkaran said it was “business as usual” at Kent County Council.
The sweary video saw councillors being told by Ms Kemkaran, the Reform leader of Kent County Council, to “f***ing suck it up” if they didn’t agree with the decisions.
Cllr Kemkaran warned those voicing dissent that they would be “screwed”, and that Reform would not be able to win a general election, if they failed to balance Kent’s budget.
In the chaotic recording, obtained by The Guardian, she allegedly shouted down fellow councillors and threatened them with being “muted”, prompting comparisons with the notorious “Jackie Weaver” parish council Zoom meeting, footage of which went viral during the pandemic.
“Let’s not forget, we are the shop window in KCC. People are looking at us, they are judging us every single minute of every single day. Nigel knows that. He is super aware that we are the flagship council,” Ms Kemkaran told her colleagues.
Kent is one of the 10 councils Reform took control of in a stunning set of local election victories in May, with the party vowing to cut wasteful spending and reduce council tax bills.
But, despite rolling out its Elon Musk-inspired Department of Local Government Efficiency (Dolge) unit in the council, Kent’s Reform leaders are still set to hike council tax rates next year.
Labour said the leaked footage showed that a government run by Nigel Farage would be “complete chaos”, while the Liberal Democrats said the meeting looked “more like an episode of The Traitors than the running of a major council”.
Cllr Kemkaran, who oversees the £2.5bn council budget, told the meeting: “We are going to live or die on that budget. If we don’t balance the books, you can forget Reform winning the next election. It’s that crucial.”
She added: “If we can avoid putting up council tax by the full 5 per cent, that is going to be the best thing that we can do to show that Reform can actually run something as big as Kent council.”
There have been rumours of a split among Kent’s Reform councillors since the party took control of the local authority.
On Monday, Reform UK announced the suspension of four KCC councillors, including Mr Thomas, whom Ms Kemkaran threatened to mute during the meeting. Mr Thomas had questioned whether Reform had the “right” leader and cabinet, before he was muted by the council leader.
It is clearly going well for Nigel Farage's party.
