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Reform UK councillors select new leader in Kent

Michael Keohan
BBC Kent, political reporter
Simon Finlay
Local Democracy Reporter
Michael Keohan/BBC Linden Kemkaran stands on a staircase and holds the bannister with one hand. She is wearing a blue suit jacket and smiling at the camera. Behind her the staircase is covered in a red carpet and a grandfather clock stands on a landing area.Michael Keohan/BBC
Linden Kemkaran is a councillor for Maidstone South East

Reform UK has chosen the next leader of Kent County Council (KCC).

Maidstone South East representative Linden Kemkaran was picked by the party's councillors on Thursday from six potential candidates.

Kemkaran said she would be looking at ways to save money at the authority, calling council tax "a massive bill".

She also said she saw having a Ukrainian flag in the council chamber as a "distraction".

"We need to get our backyard in order before we look at foreign wars in countries thousands of miles away," she told the BBC.

"If I need to remove a flag to refocus our council on what it's there to do then that's what I will do."

The party previously clarified its position on which flags would be flown outside and inside council buildings after a row over the flying of Lancashire's red rose flag.

Kemkaran said she "loved" the idea of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-type office, based on Elon Musk's cost-cutting drive to cut US government spending.

She said: "It's my job to come in and appoint someone to look at how the council can do things, I want to save money and do things better."

LDRS A group of people standing on the steps outside Kent County Hall. Many are wearing blue jackets and all are looking at the camera and smiling.LDRS
The Reform UK councillors met to choose the new leader at the council

The party saw 57 new councillors elected on 2 May, when the Conservatives' previous 57 councillors were reduced to just five.

All 72 electoral divisions across the county were up for election, equating to 81 councillors in total on 1 May.

The Conservatives had held control of the council for 28 years.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the outcome at the time as a "remarkable result".

All 57 Reform UK councillors were believed to have met at County Hall in Maidstone for the meeting on Thursday.

Reform UK inherited not only a council teetering on the edge of bankruptcy but will have to dismantle it entirely to make way for local government reform while providing all the statutory services, such as the costly adult social care.

The Conservatives, whose polling performance was described by its defeated leader Roger Gough as "apocalyptic", have yet to elect a group leader.

Malling West member, Harry Rayner, is thought to be the favourite, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Rayner told the LDRS before the meeting: "I do genuinely wish Reform all the best in the new administration.

"But the reality is that running a council with a turnover of £2bn has to be faced by newly elected people with little experience of running an authority of this size."

The Liberal Democrats, with 12 members, are now the official opposition.

Lib Dem leader Antony Hook said the "very important" recruitment of a new chief executive would start in the summer, with the incumbent Amanda Beer stepping down in November.

"It will be interesting to see who will apply for the job now that Reform is in charge," he said before the meeting.

A Reform UK spokesman said it would be a "fair and robust process" to find the right person to lead KCC.

A KCC spokesperson said Ms Beer had "for some time" intended to retire in November.

They added: "The recruitment process for a replacement will continue later this month following discussions with the leader of the new administration."

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