Kent county council, which has a \u00a32.5bn annual budget and is one of 10 where Nigel Farage\u2019s party has outright control, is considered to be a make or break showcase for whether Reform can be trusted to competently govern before a general election.<\/p>\n
It faces two major challenges: the need to meet a legal duty to balance its budget, with resulting questions over whether Reform will have to hike council tax; the other centres on its response to national plans for local government reform (LGR) that would result in Kent\u2019s councils in effect abolishing themselves.<\/p>\n
However, claims have also been made that a culture of abuse an bullying is causing deep splits in the Reform group. The Guardian has been told there have been around eight official complaints to Reform\u2019s south-east regional director in the last three months.<\/p>\n
While Reform had 56 councillors elected to Kent county council, one of them has joined Ukip while another was removed from a cabinet position amid a row. At least one more was recently suspended among allegations about their behaviour.<\/p>\n
At the start of the video, Kemkaran said: \u201cBecause I am not a dictator or an autocrat I like feedback, I like to discuss. I like to hear what everybody thinks. However, when it comes to making the really big decisions, and LGR is one of those \u2026 Sometimes I will make a decision that might not be liked by everybody in the group. But I am afraid you are just going to have to fucking suck it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linden Kemkaran: \u2018Sometimes I will make a decision that might not be liked by everybody in the group. But I am afraid you are just going to have to fucking suck it up.\u2019 Photograph: The Guardian<\/p>\n
Open-mouthed councillors were left visibly shocked at the comment, which presaged a meeting at which Kemkaran later muted one to stop him from speaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to live or die on that budget. If we don\u2019t balance the books you can forget Reform winning the next election. It\u2019s that crucial,\u201d she told them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can avoid putting up council tax by the full 5% 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, because let\u2019s not forget we are the shop window in KCC. People are looking at us, they are judging us every single day, every single minute of every single day. Nigel knows that. He is super aware that we are the flagship council.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments sparked dissent from councillors at the meeting, which took place in late August.<\/p>\n
Councillor Paul Thomas complained that Reform backbenchers were not being briefed on LGR plans by Kemkaran and other members of the council leadership, adding: \u201cThen, quite frankly, the question is: is that the right leader and the right cabinet?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arguments also broke out over a plan by Kemkaran to keep her increasingly unhappy councillors informed through a scheme under which cabinet members would each \u2018mentor\u2019 four councillors chosen at random.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s face it, the situation within the group is not great at the moment,\u201d said another councillor, Dean Burns. \u201cI work my arse off in my own portfolio and I am still getting a rod up my backside every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a lot of backbiting going on and that tends to come from the top down,\u201d he added, making a plea to be able to choose who his mentor was. Kemkaran replied: \u201cI\u2019ll think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Later in the meeting, Kemkaran complained about other council leaders in Kent who she had been meeting recent weeks, accusing them of a \u201cshocking\u201d level of ignorance about the coming LGR plans and suggesting that they did not like her because she was a woman.<\/p>\n She also referred to proposals being developed by consultants at KPMG for Kent and other councils in response to the government\u2019s LGR plans, as well as an alternative commissioned by Reform.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has the potential to completely stuff the process because it will score very highly on all the government\u2019s scoring methodologies, but they won\u2019t want it to succeed. In a way, it\u2019s the cleverest way of putting a spoke in the works but still being part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n Other councillors appeared to be confused by the strategy, with Kemkaran saying: \u201cIf we fuck this up in Kent and get confused over LGR and pull KCC out of the decision-making process and something is done and KCC wasn\u2019t at the table, that is going to look really bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to keep resolutely focused on balancing this budget and showing we can run a council without us all fighting like rats in a sack.\u201d<\/p>\n Reform won 56 seats on Kent county council, but one member has defected to Ukip, another was sacked from the cabinet and at least one suspended over allegations about their behaviour. Photograph: Gareth Fuller\/PA<\/p>\n Reform councillors who spoke to the Guardian were reluctant to go on the record. However, one said: \u201cMany of us are now despairing of this situation and feel it cannot continue any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who make up the largest opposition party on the council, said Reform\u2019s flagship council was \u201cdescending into chaos\u201d.<\/p>\n Antony Hook, the Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition in Kent, described the recording of the meeting as \u201ctruly shocking\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt reveals the Reform administration to be taking decisions and making plans based on party advantage rather than interests of the public. The recording also reveals the leader of the council speaking to her colleagues abusively and unprofessionally, in ways that would rightly not be tolerated in most workplaces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A Labour party spokesperson said: \u201cLast week, the council confirmed that despite promising to cut waste and deliver savings, they haven\u2019t come close. And now it appears that Reform politicians in Kent are more interested in fighting amongst themselves than working in the interests of their constituents.\u201d<\/p>\n A Reform UK Kent spokesperson said: \u201cThe Reform administration in Kent is united behind our election pledge to deliver value for money and fix 30 years of Conservative mismanagement.<\/p>\n \u201cIn just five months, we have made tens of millions of pounds\u2019 worth of savings, made serious inroads towards reducing the authority\u2019s debt and we are changing the practices of Kent county council to ensure that every pound spent represents best value for the taxpayer.\u201d<\/p>\n Quick GuideContact us about this storyShow The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.<\/p>\n If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.<\/p>\n Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/strong><\/p>\n The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019. <\/p>\n SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post<\/strong><\/p>\n If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760805077_23_4000.jpg\")
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