Two councillors expelled as County Hall turmoil deepens
Plus two by-elections this week, a new solar conflict, and a head-spinning song and dance routine
Good morning. We hope you survived the clock change and the sudden descent into what definitely feels like proper autumn. The wind is strong out there, the evenings are darker, and once again, County Hall is in complete chaos.
Reform has managed to outdo itself with two councillors expelled and the word “toxic” now being thrown around like confetti. What began with a leaked video has spiralled into a full-blown feud, complete with bullying claims, legal threats, and a party that looks more distracted by infighting than by running the county.
Elsewhere this week, we’ve got by-elections, cancelled housing plans, angry residents, and some newly graffiti-covered postboxes in Dartford. Dover’s Discovery Centre is back open, a devastating fire in Faversham, and the AI-generated railway musical we thought we hallucinated turns out to be, tragically, real.
Let’s get to it.
Catch up
If you missed any of our reporting over the past week, here’s your chance to catch up:
For our big weekend interview, we sat down with Richard and Alexandra Wise, the husband and wife team behind the acclaimed outdoor education experts, Wise Up. We talk about how they came to work in outdoor education, how Richard can ruin Alexandra’s working day and how they came to stick magnets to their vans.
Our Thursday news briefing looked at the continued dramas involving Reform at County Hall (more on that below!), named Kent firms identified for breaching minimum wage laws, looked at the latest financial interests of Kent MPs, and lots more.
Reform expels two councillors as County Hall turmoil deepens
Reform has expelled two Kent county councillors, widening the rift that has dominated County Hall since the leak of a private group meeting video earlier last month.
The pace of internal drama has been so relentless that it feels like a long time since Cllr David Wimble, the party’s environment lead, called a resident a “fuckwit” on social media. We reported that barely two weeks ago. Since then, the group has been consumed by leaks, suspensions and now expulsions.
Councillors Bill Barrett and Robert Ford were formally expelled by Reform’s London headquarters on Friday. Both men had already been suspended from the council group. Their removal brings the number of councillors to have left, been suspended or expelled since May to seven.
A Reform spokesperson said the pair were removed because their conduct “undermined the interests of the party and brought Reform UK into disrepute.”
Barrett’s response: Barrett, the member for Ashford Rural South, only joined Reform in March after previously serving first as a Conservative and then as an independent. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the leadership at Kent County Council had become “toxic,” alleging bullying and claiming eight formal complaints had been lodged with Reform headquarters against leader Linden Kemkaran, deputy leader Brian Collins, and chief whip Maxwell Harrison.
He said he had been expelled over comments in a private WhatsApp group, including calling a colleague “daft” and describing party communications as “scripted horseshit.”
“The reality is KCC at the moment is run by three incompetent individuals who are harming the party brand and the lives of people like me who have worked hard to get us all elected,” he told the LDRS. “It’s toxic to the decent Reform backbenchers, toxic to the opposition and toxic ultimately to the party’s reputation.”
Reform said there was “no evidence of bullying in either case.”
Ford’s expulsion: Cllr Robert Ford, who represents Maidstone Rural West, was suspended on 13 October over what the party described as “unofficial complaints” by female KCC staff members. He said at the time that no details were ever put to him and believes his removal stemmed from an internal email he sent criticising the leadership, describing it as a “dictatorship.”
Ford said the publicity around the row has damaged his reputation locally and confirmed he is seeking legal advice.
Continuing instability: The expulsions come a week after four other councillors, including Barrett, were suspended on suspicion of leaking the video that showed Kemkaran telling colleagues to “just fucking suck it up.” She has called those who shared the footage “cowards” and “traitors.”
Those suspensions followed earlier disciplinary action and a defection to UKIP, leaving Reform’s dominance at County Hall visibly eroded. Still, the group now controls 50 of the 81 seats.
In recent days, several members have submitted complaints to Reform’s head office about the leadership’s style and conduct. The party has not commented.
County Hall under strain: The unrest has become the defining story of the administration’s first months in power. Officials are attempting to maintain regular business as the political row continues, even as a committee meeting on school transport was cancelled last week.
Inside the group, attempts to draw a line have faltered. Kemkaran’s call for members to sign a joint statement of support has produced only 37 signatures, according to The Guardian, leaving 13 councillors declining to do so. The leadership has made no further comment beyond brief press statements.
Where things stand: Reform UK entered County Hall promising fiscal discipline and a new culture of politics. Five months later, it has lost over 10% of its councillors to suspension, defection or expulsion, and it is hard to imagine that the row is now over.
The council still runs, budgets still need balancing, and Reform still holds the majority. But each week, that majority looks less united, and a little more preoccupied with itself.
Three big reads
1️⃣ The Guardian have been assessing the state of Reform in Kent, following, well, just about everything, describing the situation as “factionalism, farce and chaos.” The paper also discovered that leader Linden Kemkaran failed to declare that her husband is the director of digital transformation at East Kent’s health authority, a potential conflict of interest.
2️⃣ Alan Rusbridger argues in the Independent that Weald of Kent MP Katie Lam’s hardline position on immigration is starting to sound like the rhetoric of the 1930s.
3️⃣ The Daily Mail visited Reform Road in Chatham to find out if residents there might vote for the party just because of the street’s name. They found a mix of responses, including a number of people who would vote for the party, even if it led to them being deported under the party’s plans.
Council matters
By-elections:
Thanet: Voters in Garlinge will go to the polls this week to elect a new councillor after the previous independent councillor resigned to move away from the area. Six candidates are vying for the seat, including former Conservative councillor Kerry Boyd and local character Ian Driver.
Tunbridge Wells: A vacancy will be filled in St. John’s, following the resignation of the sitting Lib Dem councillor for personal reasons. Six candidates will fight here, including the inevitable Lib Dem, Reform, Conservative, and the
People’s Front of Tunbridge Wells and the Tunbridge Wells People’s FrontTunbridge Wells Alliance and Independents for Tunbridge Wells. Curiously, Labour don’t have a candidate on the ballot as the returning officer rejected the nomination papers of candidate Alan Bullion for being incomplete.
Meetings this week:
Tonbridge and Malling: Full council will meet on Tuesday to discuss the creation of a Tonbridge Town Council.
Tonbridge and Malling: Cabinet will hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to move forward on publishing a new Local Plan.
Canterbury: Full council meets on Thursday to debate whether to declare Canterbury a City of Sanctuary and to put stricter conditions on developers regarding sewage.
Dartford: Cabinet will gather on Thursday to decide whether £4.5m of Community Infrastructure Levy should be put towards a school expansion, review the budget position, and confirm that the council is pushing for a five-unitary model under local government reorganisation.
Maidstone: The Democracy and General Purposes Committee will meet on Thursday to move forward with a proposal to create a Maidstone Town Council.
Thanet: Similiarily on the coast, the Boundary and Electoral Arrangements Working Party will meet on Thursday to discuss the creation of a Margate Parish Council.
In brief
🌤️ Kent County Council may find itself in conflict with the government over a new solar farm in Ashford. The government has granted development consent for the site following examination by the Planning Inspectorate, but Kent County Council have walked away from talks with the developer after rescinding the authority’s declaration of a climate emergency.
🚫 Plans for a 1,350-home development in Chestfield, near Whitstable, have been blocked by Kent County Council, which described traffic plans as ‘not fit for purpose.’
🪧 Plans to relocate Canterbury’s Wincheap Park and Ride site to nearby Thannington Recreation Ground have been withdrawn after local residents got very angry.
📋 Faversham and Mid Kent MP Helen Whateley has had to distance herself from far-right activists who have allegedly been canvassing on her behalf.
🔒 The government has once again claimed that Napier Barracks in Folkestone, the wildly inappropriate military base housing asylum seekers, will close by the end of the year.
🚒 A large fire has destroyed a building housing two businesses at Standard Quay in Faversham.
🍕 Pizza Hut’s restaurant division fell into administration last week, leading to nationwide closures. Locations at Chatham Dockside and Westwood Cross in Thanet have now permanently closed.
📭Someone has been covering postboxes in Dartford with graffiti, leading to mixed opinions in the town.
📚 Dover Discovery Centre has reopened following a £7.5m refurbishment. The community centre will bring the town’s library, adult education services, early years support, and registration services under one roof.
⏰ Annoyed by having to change your clocks? A builder from Kent is to blame.
👻 BBC Radio Kent has made a podcast about ghosts of Blue Bell Hill for some reason.
🚄 Finally, when we attended an event last month to push for international rail to Kent, we were treated to a head-spinning song and dance routine about bringing trains back to Ashford and Ebbsfleet. Thankfully, the entire thing was recorded, meaning you too can now enjoy the AI-created monstrosity, and we can reassure ourselves that it wasn’t a fever dream:
Events this week
🎲 Tue 28 Oct - David Spiegelhalter: The Art of Uncertainty // Statistical superstar talks how we can live with risk and uncertainty. Augustine Hall, Canterbury. Tickets £12.50
📖 Wed 29 Oct - Richard Ayoade with Bob Mortimer: Afterthoughts // Deep dive into a lifetime of wisdom to mark the new book of Ayoade. Great Hall, Canterbury. Tickets £14.50.
🎤 Fri 31 Oct - Mark Steel: The Leopard in My House // New show from comedian focuses on his battle with throat cancer. Granville Theatre, Ramsgate. Tickets £21.45.
Footnotes
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