Five Reform UK councillors booted out of party in Kent

Five Reform UK county councillors have been expelled from the party for bringing it into “disrepute” and displaying a “lack of integrity”.

Kent councillors Bill Barrett and Robert Ford, who criticised the party’s “toxic” and “incompetent” leadership, were kicked out by email from Reform HQ, which said they had undermined the interests of the party.

Councillors Oliver Bradshaw, Brian Black, and Paul Thomas were also expelled for showing “a pattern of dishonest and deceptive behaviour which the party will not tolerate”, Reform UK said.

It comes after a damaging video leak showing the Reform UK leader of Kent County Council (KCC) Linden Kemkaran swearing and shouting during a council meeting.

KCC is widely seen as a test case of Reform UK’s ability to govern as the largest local authority in England.

Councillor Barrett declined to comment, while Councillor Ford, Councillor Black, Councillor Thomas and Councillor Bradshaw have been approached by the BBC.

Councillor Barrett, who represents Ashford Borough, was one of four councillors suspended on suspicion of leaking the clip – something he denies.

He said KCC’s leaders were “toxic to the decent Reform backbenchers, toxic to the opposition and toxic ultimately to the party’s reputation.”

Councillor Ford was suspended for alleged “unofficial” complaints by female members of KCC staff.

The 59-year-old, however, has claimed no details were put to him about where, when and how he acted, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“There is not one shred of evidence against me,” he said, adding he now gets “filthy looks in the street”.

The Maidstone councillor said he believes his expulsion was due to a strongly worded email he sent to other Reform UK councillors expressing his concerns about KCC’s leadership.

Both Councillor Ford and Barrett have alleged they were bullied by members, which Reform UK has denied.

Councillors Thomas and Bradshaw were also suspended by Reform UK following the video leak.

In a statement following the leak, Thomas said he was still supportive of the leadership within the chamber.

Liberal Democrat KCC deputy opposition leader Richard Streatfeild called Reform UK in Kent “the laughing stock of the country”.

“The longer this goes on, the longer Kent’s reputation will be dragged through the dirt.”

After the footage of her berating fellow councillors and using expletives was leaked to the Guardian earlier this month, Ms Kemkaran said the culprits had committed an act of “treachery”.

She later urged fellow councillors to back her in a letter, which called her the “best person for the job”, who is leading with “courage, integrity and discipline”.

A spokesperson for the party previously said Ms Kemkaran had the “overwhelming support” of the group and would remain as leader.

On Friday, Kemkaran used a letter to 13 other authority leaders to explain the revelations which had dominated the headlines.

She said the leaked video was of a private meeting which, by its nature, “must be robust and frank” but is “first and foremost to be an internal group matter”.

She said the leaked footage was not from a constituted KCC meeting, nor was it supported by KCC officers.

“Everyone in that meeting had the right to expect that the views expressed would remain private to the Reform group,” she added.

Kemkaran said she was aware the leaked footage caused concerns among some Kent leaders about KCC’s intention or approach to local government reorganisations.

She added that she did “not believe it is the answer to the major challenges our county faces”.

Kemkaran also repeated her earlier accusation of other Kent leaders’ “shocking level of ignorance” at the probable cost of reorganisation.

“This is what I was referring to in the private group meeting reported in the Guardian article and this is what I have conveyed to you directly, in person many times”, she explained.