Reform suspends four Kent councillors after Guardian publishes leaked video of fierce infighting
Reform UK has suspended four councillors on its showcase county council after a leaked video showing bitter divisions in their ranks.Councillors on Kent county council were seen in the footage, first published by the Guardian, complaining about “backbiting” and being ignored by their leader, Linden Kemkaran, who told them to “fucking suck it up” if they did not agree with decisions made by her.A spokesperson for Nigel Farage’s party said on Monday morning that four councillors on the council, one of 10 where Reform won outright control in local elections earlier this year, had been suspended.“Councillors 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,” said the spokesperson.The suspensions now mean that, from winning 57 seats in elections in May, Reform has 50 councillors with the whip.
Two other councillors had been suspended while a third joined Ukip.The “chaos” on the Reform group was now having a direct impact on Kent constituents in need, warned Antony Hook, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council.He said a council committee that would have been involved in school transport issues and which was due to take place on Wednesday has been cancelled as a result of the suspensions.“This potentially means a child or children delayed in getting school transport granted,” he said.“We learned in the leaked video that they have no respect for each other, let alone respect for the public.
Now they are turning on each other.”Labour and Tory MPs also seized on the affair to heap criticism on Reform and warn that it was an insight into what Farage’s party would look like in power.Sojan Joseph, the Labour MP for the Kent constituency of Ashford, described the affair as an “absolute shambles”, criticising other recent Reform initiatives in the county, including its attempt to roll out a local version of the cost-cutting “department of government efficiency” (Doge) launched by Elon Musk in the US, and concerns the party will have to raise council tax to balance its budget.“They’ve not even made it until Christmas – Doge didn’t work.Council tax is rising, and now they’re having to suspend multiple councillors,” he said.
Louie French, the Tory MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, said on X: “Reform promised Kent residents the world in May.Six months later they are in complete chaos, with residents facing the prospect of even higher bills.A serious warning to the rest of the UK of what Reform in power looks like.”The footage of the meeting, which took place in late August, showed Reform councillors complaining about “backbiting” and being ignored by Kemkaran, who told them they would be “screwed” and that Reform could forget about winning the general election if they did not balance Kent’s budget.A source said on Monday morning that the councillors had been removed “with no firm evidence” and that it was “panic stations” at the Reform grouping on Kent, which Kemkaran had described as a “showcase” for the party’s intentions of winning power in a general election.
They added that a vote of no confidence in Kemkaran was being readied for early November, either from the opposition or from within Reform UK.Kemkaran told her fellow councillors in an email at the weekend that she launched a hunt for the “cowards” who had leaked the recorded meeting.The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.Secure Messaging in the Guardian appThe Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.
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