A quiet test of the rules at County Hall
Plus KCC hits financial reality, could a Kent MP be the next Tory leader, an lots more
Good morning and welcome to the first of our new Monday briefings. We’re changing the schedule around a little bit here to squeeze in this extra edition that gives you the latest on what is happening in Kent this week. Free subscribers will still receive our Thursday edition, but by moving some of the shorter, sharper bits here, we’ll have more room for bigger, more detailed stories there.
Over the coming weeks, we’re going to add some more sections to this Monday briefing to provide the most well-rounded view of the week in Kent that we can. Of course, none of this is possible without the generous readers who support our work with a paid subscription. Their support gives us the resources we need to spend time chasing down the stories facing our county. If you value our dispatches and want to help us keep doing them, please consider joining us as a paid supporter.
Catch up
We’ve had a big week here on the Kent Current. If you missed any of our reporting, here’s your chance to catch up:
We sat down with Kent author, comedian, and podcaster Rosie Wilby for our big weekend interview. We chatted about her book and podcast about breaking up, ethical dilemmas, her upcoming panel in Margate, and lots more.
Reform taking their first seats on Maidstone Borough Council in a triple by-election win led our Thursday briefing. We also looked at the anti-immigration protests spreading across Kent, the return of covid to the county, and more.
Kent is in an absurd position of having two international train stations but no international trains. We looked at the campaign to return continental rail journeys to the county, spoke to some of the key voices involved, and pondered the chances of trains actually stopping here once again.
A quiet test of the rules at County Hall
A senior Reform councillor on Kent County Council has called a resident a “f@?kwit” during a public exchange on the council’s own Facebook page. Remarkably, the comment remains visible, and no action has been taken.
Power meets profanity
Councillor David Wimble, who represents Romney Marsh and serves as Reform’s Cabinet Member for Environment, made the remark under an official Kent County Council post. The exchange attracted limited reaction but highlights the tone of political debate since Reform took control of County Hall earlier this year.
The £50m post that started it
The comment appeared beneath a Kent County Council Facebook post announcing that the authority had paid off £50m of debt, part of efforts to reduce borrowing.
When a resident called Rosy Macduff criticised Reform’s approach to council finances, Wimble replied:
“ok mr rosy f@?kwit Macduff How do you square that circle…”
The message from Wimble’s personal account is still visible beneath the post. Though written personally, it appeared under an official council update, meaning it falls within the Code of Member Conduct, which covers social media.
The long road to Reform
Wimble’s political career has taken several turns. He stood as an independent candidate in 2017 but also signed the nomination papers for his Conservative rival. Two years later, he was elected as an independent councillor on Folkestone & Hythe District Council and entered an alliance with the Conservatives and UKIP.
In 2024, he joined Reform. Ahead of the May local elections, he was forced to withdraw election leaflets that included the Kent County Council logo, a clear breach of electoral law. He previously published The Looker, a Romney Marsh newspaper, which, coincidentally, was sympathetic to Reform, but appears to have ceased publication since his Cabinet appointment.
When the rules are clear but the process isn’t
Kent County Council’s Code of Member Conduct forbids behaviour that ‘harasses or bullies any person’ and instructs councillors not to act in ways that could bring their office or the council into disrepute. Councillors are expected to maintain professional standards both in meetings and online.
Complaints are first considered by the council’s Monitoring Officer, who decides whether to refer them to the Standards Committee. That committee is now controlled by Reform councillors, meaning any judgment on alleged misconduct would ultimately rest with members of the same party.
Opposition figures have described the setup as ‘marking your own homework,’ questioning whether any complaint could be reviewed independently.
Reform’s test of tone
Reform gained control of Kent County Council after winning 57 of the council’s 81 seats in the May local elections. The group, led by Cllr Linden Kemkaran, has promoted itself as a ‘common-sense’ alternative to traditional politics.
This is not the first time questions have been raised about councillor behaviour. In August, five Reform councillors were photographed smiling alongside a man draped in a neo-Nazi flag. No public comment or disciplinary action followed.
The Wimble exchange has also prompted no official response or formal complaint.
Silence speaks for itself
Kent Current asked Cllr Wimble, Cllr Kemkaran, and Reform whip Cllr Maxwell Harrison for comment. None replied.
The post remains live on the Kent County Council Facebook page.
The bottom line
A cabinet member calling a resident a “f@?kwit” beneath the council’s own announcement might once have drawn swift attention. Under Kent’s new administration, it has passed largely without notice.
The council’s code of conduct calls for respect and integrity in public office. With Reform controlling the committee responsible for enforcing those rules, it is unclear whether anyone will take action.
Three big reads
1️⃣ Kent Reform councillors have been talking anonymously to the Financial Times about how they will have to raise council tax by the full 5% next year. The party, elected with a promise of making sweeping cuts to save money, has discovered the reality of local government. “Everyone thought we’d come in and there were going to be these huge costs we could cut away but there just aren’t,” one Cabinet member told the paper.
2️⃣ Could Weald of Kent MP Katie Lam be the next leader of the Conservative Party? That’s the question the Guardian asked over the weekend, who pondered her projection of a fairly traditional Tory on her website, but spends her days on social media shouting about immigration and grooming gangs.
3️⃣ Kent journalist Joseph S. Furey writes for Sam Bright’s newsletter about how conspiracy theories and far-right rhetoric have reshaped British culture and politics. He talks about visits to Faversham and Ramsgate, where extremist ideology has become normalised, and the signs of pushback against it.
In brief
💣 An ally of Vladimir Putin has gone on Russian state television to suggest blowing up the SS Montgomery, a sunken ship in the Thames Estuary with roughly 1,400 tonnes of explosives on board.
⚫ Kent and Medway have suicide rates higher than the national average.
🏨 Sevenoaks District Council is considering spending £18.5m to build a new hotel in Swanley.
🗳️ KentOnline has been talking to Kent’s youngest parish councillor.
Can you help us?
So many of our best tips come from readers, so we’re going to start throwing out what we’re working on, with the hope that some of our incredible readers might be able to contribute some knowledge.
Here’s what we’re currently developing as stories:
We want to speak to anyone who knows what is happening with the former Regent Cinema site in Deal. The council sold the original cinema to private developers in 2011 under the condition that a cinema would be retained on the site, but 14 years later, the building sits crumbling. If you have any knowledge of what’s going on, we’d love to hear from you.
It’s been over two years since Galley Hill Road in Swanscombe collapsed, cutting off a key route between Gravesend and Ebbsfleet. We’re planning to look into the Swancombe Hole, as we’re calling it, so if you know anything we might find helpful, please get in touch.
If you can help with either story, or have something else we might be interested in, contact us via hello AT kentcurrent DOT news - we’re always happy to talk off the record in the first instance…
Events this week
🎸 Tue 7 Oct - Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage // New York master of anti-folk. Forum, Tunbridge Wells. Tickets £20.
🎷 Thu 9 Oct - The Horne Section’s Hit Show // Comedy band led by Taskmaster’s assistant Little Alex Horne. Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone. Tickets £32.50.
🎤 Fri 10 Oct - Dr John Cooper Clarke // Godfather of punk poetry plays seaside show. The King’s Hall, Herne Bay. Tickets £26.
Footnotes
Have a Kent story you think we might be interested in? Get in touch via hello(at)kentcurrent(dot)news - We’re always happy to talk off the record in the first instance…
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Language aside, is there any likelihood that Cllr Wimble is correct about the consequences of LGR?