Sparks fly in Kent A story of factionalism, chaos and farce

When Reform UK swept to power in Kent at the local elections this year, Nigel Farage arrived in the county by helicopter for a victory party marked by champagne and fireworks.

- Ben Quinn

Just over 25 weeks on, the sparks flying are of a very different kind.

Farage has returned to national campaigning and left the running of Kent county council and its £2.5bn annual budget to its newly installed leader, the combative former journalist and ex-Tory Linden Kemkaran.

The Guardian recently published a recording of a meeting in which she told dissenting colleagues they had to "fucking suck it up" if they didn't like her decisions. Four councillors were suspended and the party issued "oaths of loyalty" in an attempt to flush out those whom the deputy leader, Richard Tice, accused of "treachery".

Farage has been silent on the row, preferring to dedicate time to speaking at a cryptocurrency conference and campaigning in the Caerphilly Senedd byelection, where Reform came second despite leading in polls before the vote.

But all is not well in Kent, and what was hailed as a "shop window" for the party to prove its governing prowess, is descending into factionalism, farce and chaos.

One immediate consequence of the row was felt by a committee preparing to adjudicate on appeals by at least seven families who say they need supported school transport for their children.

The session had to be cancelled on Wednesday because the chair, Maxine Fothergill, and another member, Paul Thomas, were among those suspended by Kemkaran.