Farage defends party's 'slow start' on vital council work

VICTORY MEANT COUNCILLORS NEED TIME TO 'WORK OUT HOW TO DO THEIR JOBS'

- By STANLEY MURPHY-JOHNS

REFORM UK leader Nigel Farage has described his party’s “slow start” running Kent County Council as a consequence of there being a “rethink” in local government.

Since winning control of the authority on May 1, Reform UK has cancelled or postponed numerous committee meetings - with opposition leader Cllr Antony Hook claiming that “most committees have not met once’, and the new administration has yet to make any “key” decisions.

Mr Farage visited County Hall in Maidstone on Monday, and was met by council leader Linden Kemkaran for an update on the authority's work.

After the meeting, he said: “I'm very proud of the election result, the stunning number of seats that we won - way more than we thought - and so there were an awful lot of shocked new councillors walking in here a few weeks ago.

“We have established a cabinet, we've got a full council meeting on Thursday at which our first big savings will be announced.