Victorious Reform choose new leader for Kent County Council

CLLR LINDEN KEMKARAN PROMISES ELON MUSK-STYLE DRIVE FOR SAVINGS

- By SIMON FINLAY

CLLR Linden Kemkaran has been named as the new Reform UK leader of Kent County Council, having been elected one week after the party swept to win an emphatic victory in the May Day election.

Straight-talking Mrs Kemkaran, who lives in Headcorn and is the newly elected member for the Maid-stone South East division, was voted in by her council colleagues at a special meeting last week.

She said: “You have to understand that we won a massive majority and we have absolute, ultimate control.”

Ms Kemkaran vowed to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber, open the council's books to auditors, and review working practices across the authority.

She won the vote against a field of six candidates who included Cllrs Maxine Fothergill, Paul Thomas and Brian Collins.

After the result, Mrs Kemkaran had a meeting with the authority’s chief executive, Amanda Beer, and general counsel, Ben Watts, after which she said: “This is my first day in a brand new job and you wouldn’t expect me to have all the answers.