Reform's new DOLGE boss is extremely online
Reform’s flagship efficiency project at Kent County Council is back in the spotlight this week, following a cabinet appointment that raises fresh questions about credibility, competence and communication at County Hall. We look at why the replacement of the council’s efficiency lead matters, what it tells us about the state of Reform’s budget narrative, and how parts of the local media have handled the story. Elsewhere in this edition, we cover the continuing fallout from Kent’s water failures, growing scrutiny over the closure of Dreamland’s Scenic Railway, local government reorganisation, planning battles across the county, and the mix of culture, protest and local oddities that make up another busy week in Kent...
A new appointment and a familiar credibility problem
Reform has replaced Cllr Matthew Fraser-Moat as Kent County Council’s cabinet member for 'Local Government Efficiency,' with Cllr Christopher Hespe taking over.
That would be a routine reshuffle if DOLGE were a routine portfolio. It isn’t. DOLGE is Reform’s flagship brand, launched to prove the waste is real, the savings are there, and the grown-ups have finally arrived to sort it out. Which is why it is perhaps odd that this reset feels less like a fresh start and more like Reform swapping one headache for another.
Catch up
Fraser-Moat resigned after comments to the Financial Times in which he said the council “had not actually made any cuts” since Reform took control. He later described it as a “lapse of judgement,” blamed the pressure of the role and running a family business, and said his words had been “twisted to fit into an anti-KCC narrative.”
As we set out last week, the budget story underneath all this didn’t change. The papers show a council balancing by narrowing the margin for error with thinning reserves, big structural risks sitting in plain sight, and a savings programme officers themselves rate as likely to slip in places. Whatever Reform wants DOLGE to represent, the numbers describe a council managing scarcity, not one uncovering a hidden pool of easy wins.
What KCC says happened
KCC’s press release announcing Hespe is straight continuity messaging. Council leader Linden Kemkaran says he was “instrumental” in shaping and delivering the efficiency programme in this year’s budget, helping identify “substantial savings” to support a “balanced and responsible budget” while “protect[ing] essential frontline services.” She adds that “further efficiencies” are already identified in the medium-term plan.
Kemkaran then went further on Facebook. She complained about “confusing reports” and said the media is “obsessed,” claimed Reform has reduced borrowing by £67m and put the council on track for £100m in savings, and insisted these are “facts, not promises.” She argued the Financial Times comments were “twisted beyond recognition,” framing them as a casual conversation stripped of context, and described Fraser-Moat as “deeply honourable,” resigning because he realised his mistake in thinking an informal chat would remain informal.
Local media steps aside
KentOnline treated the appointment as a tidy handover story. It repeated the council leader’s praise, lifted the bulk of the quote block, and framed the change largely as the natural next step after Fraser-Moat’s resignation. If you read only that version, the main takeaway is that Reform has a new efficiency chief and that everything is under control.
The problem is what isn’t there. There’s no real attempt to add context on who Hespe is beyond his title and ward, and no interest in the kind of public behaviour that tends to matter when you’ve just put someone in charge of a flagship efficiency project. In this case, treating a council press release as a finished piece of journalism doesn’t just look lazy. It leaves readers less informed precisely when they need the most information.
Who Hespe is, in public
Hespe is prolific on X. His bio describes him as an 'ordinary guy with wide interests,' a sport scientist who is legally trained, an ex-corporate director, and 'easily amused.' On his appointment, he posted that he’s looking forward to “driving efficiencies,” “embedding cost-consciousness,” and “seeking value for money” across “all the valued services.”
The same active councillor account shows what he chooses to amplify alongside that. He has reposted 'UN Agenda 2030' content presented as a 'New World Order' plot: one-world government, forced digital ID, microchipping, '15-minute zones,' 'world depopulation,' and plenty more besides. He has reposted pro-Kremlin framing on Ukraine, including claims the US staged a coup in 2014 and the familiar biolabs line. He has shared AI-generated political content too, including a Trump–Starmer clip where a foreign leader attacks the UK's Prime Minister, framed as something 'people in the UK' want.
He reposts culture-war content with the same enthusiasm. One repost mocks transgender people via a Normandy joke about 'transgender soldiers' in 'high heels and plastic wigs,' attached to an image of a 'Royal British Legion Pride Poppy.' He also boosts anti-climate change content framed around CO₂ benefits, including the claim that life on earth is being 'stunted' due to insufficient CO₂.
None of this is hidden. It’s all posted publicly, under his name, while serving as a Reform councillor, from the account he still uses.
The deleted accounts and the live one
In October, we reported on screenshots published by Hope Not Hate and circulated by ReformExposed that appeared to show Hespe reposting or writing offensive material in 2023, including anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant content and praise for Tommy Robinson. Hope Not Hate said he didn’t answer a request for comment.
It’s worth separating that from what’s happening now, because the easy defence is 'old account, old story.' The Hope Not Hate/ReformExposed screenshots related to old accounts that were deleted. The examples above are from his current, active councillor account.
So this isn’t just about historic posts resurfacing. It’s about what he’s choosing to boost now, as he steps into a cabinet post designed to signal seriousness.
Why it matters
DOLGE was never just an internal efficiency programme. Reform launched it as a political symbol, proof that the waste is obvious, that previous administrations were either incompetent or complicit, and that Reform would fix it by being tougher and smarter.
Last week’s budget papers showed something less dramatic and more worrying: A council balancing by thinning resilience, leaning on savings officers rate as likely to slip, and leaving itself less room for anything to go wrong. When that mismatch was said out loud to a journalist from a national newspaper, the portfolio holder for efficiency resigned. The replacement is a councillor whose public footprint is a steady stream of conspiracies, culture-war bait and geopolitical hot takes.
If your flagship project is built on competence and credibility, the credibility of the person running it isn’t a side issue.
What’s next
Kemkaran’s line is that the media mangled an informal conversation, Reform is delivering real savings, and Hespe will take DOLGE “to the next level.” That case might be easier to make if the administration didn’t keep picking fights with itself.
The question for Kent is simple. With finances this tight, why choose a figure who turns a competence project into another rolling comms problem?
The question for parts of the local press is simpler still. If the press release is the whole story, what exactly are you adding?
Three big reads
1️⃣ UnHerd has been to visit Tunbridge Wells, and claims its 'paranoid politics' is 'fragmenting.' Cheery.
2️⃣ In happier news, Thanet's last surviving youth centre has been saved after a grant was made available to allow the current operators to purchase the building from Kent County Council, who wanted to auction it off.
3️⃣ The Guardian isn't impressed by Kent County Council's looming budget, pointing out that claims of cuts by council leadership hinge on unfunded ideas briefly listed in budget documents.
Council matters
Meetings this week:
- Canterbury: Cabinet comes together tonight (Monday) to decide on council tax for the coming year and to increase car parking charges.
- Maidstone: Overview & Scrutiny Committee will look at the decision to improve the public realm in Earl Street as the Conservatives have called the decision in.
- Medway: Cabinet meets on Tuesday to approve the draft budget, a new River Medway strategy, a suicide and self-harm prevention strategy, and lots more.
- Tonbridge & Malling: Cabinet meets to set the budget for the coming year on Tuesday.
- Folkestone & Hythe: Cabinet gets together on Wednesday to discuss a lot of financial items.
- Maidstone: Cabinet meets on Wednesday to talk finances and planning for the Heathlands and Lidsing developments.
- Thanet: Overview & Scrutiny Panel will discuss the state of Arlington House in Margate on Wednesday.
- Kent: County Council meets on Thursday to pass the budget for the coming year. Expect political theatrics, before Reform are ultimately able to push it through.
- Ashford: Cabinet gathers on Thursday to discuss the revenue budget for the coming year.
- Canterbury: Overview Committee will consider various options for the expansion of the Wincheap Park & Ride facility on Thursday.
- Sevenoaks: Cabinet will talk finances, public space protection orders, and procuring a partner to redevelop parts of the town centre on Thursday.
New planning applications:
- Dartford: 69 homes and extensive commercial floor space is planned as part of a redevelopment in the centre of the town.
- Folkestone & Hythe: Plans to convert a former toilet block into a war memorial.
- Medway: 100 homes are proposed south of Higham Road and east of Buckland Road in Cliffe.
In brief
🗣️ The government's formal consultation on local government reorganisation is underway, allowing interested parties to submit views via the portal's complex form.
Ed Jennings
🗳️ Tonbridge is set to get a town council, as districts across the county rush to create new bodies in the wake of local government reorganisation.
🥀 KentOnline managed to find two Kent Labour MPs who said they were still backing Keir Starmer, who, as we write this, is still in post, despite there being ten Labour MPs in the county.
➡️ Searchlight Magazine has alleged that Reform councillors in Swale are backing far-right activists who keep disrupting council meetings.
🎓 Formal approval has been given for the University of Kent and University of Greenwich to merge from August, with both institutions retaining their identities.
🏢 Arlington House in Margate could be at risk of crumbling.
🏥 William Harvey Hospital in Ashford declared a critical incident last week, with all beds full and the emergency department under heavy pressure.
🏡 Anti-housing campaigners in Hollingbourne, near Maidstone, are claiming that houses in their community aren't needed and won't meet local needs, despite 600 people registering interest in the 16 properties.
🏘️ Proving trying to build anything anywhere will annoy someone, anti-housing campaigners in Ashford are complaining about 28 affordable homes on a brownfield site.
🚆 No trains will run through Dartford between 14-22 February, which will likely cause no disruption to anyone.
🦾 Our new robot overlords have performed surgery on patients for the first time at QEQM Hospital in Margate.
🔌 Kent County Council, fresh from scrapping the climate emergency and abandoning transitioning to an electric vehicle fleet, will install on-street EV chargers, which "prepares Kent for the future."
🌊 South East Water have taken a break from not supplying water to parts of Kent to launch a consultation on creating a new reservoir at Broad Oak, near Canterbury.
🚰 In further "hey, look at this instead" news from the embattled water company, South East Water lifted the 'temporary' hosepipe ban they implemented in July last year.
💷 A private investment group has purchased the Bligh's Meadow retail complex in Sevenoaks.
🔦 Members of a Maidstone social club are patrolling the building 24/7 to stop the landlord from kicking them out and changing the locks.
🏳️⚧️ The first Trans Pride Kent is scheduled for next month in Canterbury.
🎢 Thanet District Council has called in the decision by Dreamland to close the scenic railway, but admits it has no power to do anything.
Ed Jennings
🎾 The relentless march of padel continues, with two new venues proposed this week in Sittingbourne.
🏊 Heritage campaigners have proposed converting a Ramsgate swimming pool that was turned into a car park back into a swimming pool.
🎭 70 community organisations have come together to put in a bid for Thanet to be awarded City of Culture, despite not being a city.
📘 A Canterbury author has been shortlisted for a Waterstones children's book prize.
🎬 The Kent Film Office has turned 20.
⚔️ A 1,500 year old Anglo-Saxon sword has been found near Canterbury.
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Property of the week
This Grade II-listed detached house on Tenterden High Street is believed to date back to the 14th century and may be the town’s oldest surviving home. Arranged over multiple levels and extended over time, the property offers three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with exposed beams, latch doors and large fireplaces throughout. There is a south-facing garden, off-street parking and no onward chain, and it is on the market at offers in excess of £700,000.
Events this week
🐋 10 Feb - 7 Mar - Whales // Three sperm whale sculptures suspended in the Nave. Rochester Cathedral. Free.
🎸 Thu 12 Feb - Buzzcocks // 50th anniversary show for punk band. Forum, Tunbridge Wells. Tickets £40.
🎤 Sun 15 Feb - Bridget Christie: Jacket Potato Pizza // New show from comedian and TV star. Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. Tickets £29.50.
Footnotes
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