Reform
suspends four Kent councillors after Guardian publishes leaked video of fierce
infighting
Members
of Reform’s flagship county council will be investigated after ‘evidence that
they brought the party into disrepute’
Ben Quinn
Mon 20
Oct 2025 10.23 BST
Reform UK
has suspended four councillors on its flagship county council after a leaked
video showing bitter divisions in their ranks.
Councillors
on Kent county council were seen in the footage, first published by the
Guardian, complaining about “backbiting” and being ignored by their leader,
Linden Kemkaran, who told them to “fucking suck it up” if they did not agree
with decisions made by her.
A
spokesperson for Nigel Farage’s party said on Monday morning that four
councillors on the council, one of 10 where Reform won outright control in
local elections earlier this year, had been suspended.
“Councillors
Paul Thomas, Oliver Bradshaw, Bill Barrett and Maxine Fothergill have had the
whip suspended pending investigation, following evidence that they brought the
party into disrepute,” said the spokesperson.
The
suspensions now mean that, from winning 57 seats in elections in May, Reform
has 50 councillors with the whip. Two other councillors had been suspended
while a third joined Ukip.
The
“chaos” on the Reform group was now having a direct impact on Kent constituents
in need, warned Antony Hook, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the
council.
He said a
council committee that would have been involved in school transport issues and
which was due to take place on Wednesday has been cancelled as a result of the
suspensions
“This
potentially means a child or children delayed in getting school transport
granted,” he said.
“We
learned in the leaked video that they have no respect for each other, let alone
respect for the public. Now they are turning on each other.”
The
footage of the meeting, which took place in late August, showed Reform
councillors complaining about “backbiting” and being ignored by Kemkaran, who
told them they would be “screwed” and that Reform could forget about winning
the general election if they did not balance Kent’s budget.
A source
told the Guardian on Monday morning that the councillors had been removed “with
no firm evidence” and that it was “panic stations” at the Reform grouping on
Kent, which Kemkaran had described as a “showcase” for the party’s intentions
of winning power in a general election.
They
added that a vote of no confidence in Kemkaran was being readied for early
November, either from the opposition or from within Reform UK.
Kemkaran
told her fellow councillors in an email at the weekend that she launched a hunt
for the “cowards” who had leaked the recorded meeting.
.jpeg)
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário