"Just over 25 weeks on from what the Reform leader described as one of the most significant days of his career 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."
"Last week the Guardian published a recording of an incendiary meeting in which she told dissenting colleagues they had to fucking suck it up if they didn't like her decisions. The leak precipitated a wave of recriminations, four councillors were suspended and the party issued oaths of loyalty to its councillors in a bid to flush out those who the deputy leader, Richard Tice, accused of treachery."
"But all is not well in Kent, and what was hailed as a shop window for the insurgent party to prove their governing prowess, is descending into factionalism, farce and a chaos in the Reform-run garden of England. One immediate consequence of the row was felt by a committee due to adjudicate on appeals by at least seven families who say they need supported school transport for their children."
Reform UK won control of Kent county council in the local elections, with Nigel Farage celebrating. Farage returned to national campaigning and left county leadership to Linden Kemkaran. A leaked recording captured Kemkaran telling dissenting councillors they had to 'suck it up,' triggering suspensions of four councillors and loyalty oaths aimed at identifying perceived traitors. Deputy leader Richard Tice accused some councillors of treachery. The turmoil disrupted council operations, forcing cancellation of a committee session on supported school transport appeals after the chair and a member were suspended. Reform UK underperformed expectations in the Caerphilly Senedd byelection.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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