By Local Democracy Reporter Simon Finlay
The under-pressure Reform UK leader of Kent County Council has called on her 49 remaining members to back her in writing.
Cllr Linden Kemkaran, on advice from the party’s headquarters, sent out a message this morning calling on all fellow councillors to sign a statement of support.
It comes three days after Cllr Kemkaran’s leadership was rocked by a leaked video of a private virtual meeting where she was shown swearing and raising her voice in front of members.
In a message to members on Saturday evening, Cllr Kemkaran branded those who had leaked the video to a national newspaper as “cowards” who had committed an act of “treachery”.
It emerged on Sunday a back bencher was considering staging a vote of no confidence in the leader.
On Monday morning, the leadership suspended the whip from Paul Thomas (Maidstone South), Oliver Bradshaw (Maidstone Central), Maxine Fothergill (Sevenoaks Rural North East) and Bill Barrett (Ashford Rural South) on suspicion of leaking the video to the Guardian.
Reform UK swept into office in May having secured 57 of the 81 seats at County Hall, ending nearly 30 years of Tory dominance. Since May, seven have either had the whip suspended or left the party.
Today, Cllr Kemkaran sent this note to members just before 9am this morning: “To counter all the negativity, HQ would like a statement ready to issue in support of the leadership ideally signed by all members. “
This was followed by another message titled “In support of our Leadership”.
It reads: “We, the undersigned, believe in democracy and have full confidence in our leader, Cllr Linden Kemkaran.
“During the hustings and subsequent vote for a group leader on May 8, 2025, Linden won overwhelmingly because we could see that she was the best person for the job.
“Leading a large group of newly-elected county councillors was a huge task in itself. To also lead the largest and most complex authority in the country was an almost impossible task for one person to take on from a standing start.
“But Linden rose to the challenge without hesitation. She has the opposition firmly on the run and under her guidance, Reform UK members are flourishing in their roles.
“She is leading the group and the council with courage, integrity and discipline.”
It goes on to say how shocked the top table was to find an “enemy in our midst”.
The note claims that work over the weekend, since the original Guardian revelations, by Cllr Kemkaran, her deputy Brian Collins and whips Cllrs Maxwell Harrison, Sarah Emberson and Wayne Chapman had led to the suspension of the four councillors.
In the video, Cllr Kemkaran threatens to mute Cllr Thomas who presses her on local government reorganisation policy.
He asks: “Is that the right leader and the right cabinet?”
During the discussion, Cllr Kemkaran tells colleagues: “You are just going to have to f****** suck it up.”
Yesterday at County Hall, Cllr Thomas confirmed he was under investigation but felt sure he would be exonerated while Cllr Fothergill fled County Hall in tears protesting her innocence.
East Thanet MP Polly Billington is also amongst those who have called for Linden Kemkaran to resign on the heels of the leaked video and ensuing disruption at KCC.
She is one of seven MPs who have signed a letter to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage saying Cllr Kemkaran should step down.
A Reform source is reported as dismissing the letter as ‘political posturing’ from ‘non-entity Labour MPs.’
It’s almost as if they swept to power on the back of some half baked and completely unworkable plans to stop small boats and now realise they are a complete one trick pony in power. Them seem genuinely surprised that not every decision they have to make is about immigration.
Certainly doesn’t bode well for ruling at a national level and I blame Labour for being such a completely inept ruling party which has held the door open for Reform.
I also blame Conservative for being such a completely inept ruling party which held the door open for Labour.
Labour have nothing to do with the rise of Reform…. Or I should say don’t hold the largest responsibility, whilst the Mail will try and push the narrative Labour have been a disaster, and it hasn’t been pretty, what they inherited was terrible and Tories lied about a great many things, undoing the damage is going to be painful, no party can fix this without further pain. I’m surprised so many think after the Johnson Truss and Rishi three stooges act that any party can just make two or three sensible decisions and the country be united and thriving again. It’s nonsense.
Labour have made so truly awful decisions, but they are funded by same people that funded Tories! This system is flawed. Reform funders are worse.
At the moment it’s the lesser of three evils for me.
Wow, I never thought I’d see the day that Nut Depressed supported Farage!
I actually think Rishi could’ve been a good PM, but sadly he was left with a disintergrating party and a country in crisis.
I did say I was going to vote Green next time, but I really can’t stand their new leader, who bangs on about Palestine more than any genuine Green initiatives. So, I really don’t know which party I’d vote for (if only Screaming Lord Sutch was still around).
“Wow, I never thought I’d see the day that Nut Depressed supported Farage!”
That isn’t me; Reform/Farage are russian owned fascists for starters and their supporters useful idiots. Its almost as if someone doesn’t like the fact I’ve been calling out their rhetoric with stats and sources over the past couple of months and has started aping my username in order to sow discord here.
I’d love for Kathy to check email addresses used with comments, remove the ones aping my username, prove my point and then implement an email sign up account based system on here to prevent user imitation. Doubt it’ll happen though…
“notimpressed” , try e-mailing Kathy Bailes via the Home section- on the left-hand side of this page and above the news (etc) items’ titles.
“notimpressed” is your real name? Wow, your parents must’ve really disliked you!
…what they (labour) inherited was terrible. Are you totally stupid or what? The Tory party (who I actually detest) had to deal with fallout from the Banking crisis, Brexit, and Covid. Three of the most damaging events in modern British history.
Although the tories tried their best (which was rubbish), the public blamed the tories for all three and, in punishing the tories, let the labour clowns in by the back door.
Labour actually inherited a country and an economy that had actually turned the corner. But as usual, in they came with their chip-on-the-shoulder politics of spite and envy, and in hurting their lifelong enemies (the so called rich) partly by rewarding their union paymasters with tens of billions have saddled the UK with generations of national debt.
Labour, as always, have now virtually run out of other people’s money.
“Labour actually inherited a country and an economy that had actually turned the corner. But as usual, in they came with their chip-on-the-shoulder politics of spite and envy, and in hurting their lifelong enemies (the so called rich) partly by rewarding their union paymasters with tens of billions have saddled the UK with generations of national debt.”
Bless your heart, my sweet summer child. IF you detest the tories, why are you using their labour attack lines they’ve used for decades like a broken record? lol
When all things are said Reform are a far, far better bet than either Labour or Tory. Having been in business for over 40 years I have watched both tory and labour councils destroy our towns and, again, tory and labour governments destroy our country and our economy.
Whether both their deliberate policies to ignore and thwart brexit (Roger Gale ignoring a huge leave vote in Thanet with a very large voter turnout – probably because he has valuable property and land in France) or their use of actually encouraging migrants to prop up their ponzi scheme to support a rotten-to-the-core economic model, whichever way you look both tories and labour have brought this once proud (rightly so) country to its knees.
Greens… don’t make me laugh. Libdem… ha ha ha ha ha (genuine laugh at television game show Ed).
Election: No previous contenders considered.
Like the old joke – “The Executive has sent you a get well soon message – passed by 4 votes to 3 with 5 abstentions.”
What a pathetic creature, no doubt she wants it signed & back before she goes on her all important holiday & most likely these weaklings will sign it. If you substitute Trump in for her name you could easily believe he wrote this insecure, self serving, ego tripping, authoritarian drivel.
Did anybody see any integrity & discipline? Courage is arguable, but seeing as she keeps running away on holiday when there are huge problems & seems to rule by shouting like some demented Karen teacher establishing her authority over a bunch of primary school kids & swearing like a sailor it comes off more as a weak, insecure person-which this farcical statement painting her as the second coming of Jesus she wants signed proves she is.
I’ll lend her my support.
Just as long as she rinses it out and returns it once no longer needed.
Ridiculous.
Vote for clowns you get a circus.
Some people never learn.
Hi, why are you aping my username, despite me using this one for nearly a year? Kathy, please check the emails used and your site logs for when my email address was first used with a comment. Then please implement a proper, account based, sign up system.
I’ve been using it way longer than a year. You are the imposter. I do hope Cathy does check and rightly bans you.
Several people aren’t impressed, hahaha! Still surprised you’re all supporting Reform though.
The subject here is Kemkaran’s behaviour not the iniquities or not of other parties. Why is it when something goes awry with Reform, we get the tune of the other party’s are worse.They may be, but Reform were elected on the basis they knew what they were doing, and clearly they don’t.When people are over their heads, their response is often rage and anger and so it is here. The weaker members of the last govt did the same, such as Badenoch, Priti Patel, and Braverman, to name a few. If you read the history of the past decade you will find swearing and shouting aplenty within govt. Our little friend with the eye sight problem Dominic Cummings, was another example.However, none of them were caught on camera wailing like a banshee and that’s the issue.
As for the economic and social catastrophes of our time,the following is true: the de-industrialisation of Britain -Thatcher. Privatisation of the Railways-Major. Privatisation of buses- Thatcher. Rundown of the coal fields- Thatcher. Deregulation of banks and big bang -Thatcher. Covid pandemic mismanagement -Johnson. Brexit-Cameron. Rescue of the banks to avoid the great depression and another round of nazism/facism – Brown.
Unfortunately, Starmer is not an Attlee,a Bevan or even a Morrison, he is like Sunak a technocrat, a different sort of technocrat, but one who believes the system will still function effectively, if you pull that lever, or yank that rope.It won’t.
Checksfield of course bobs and weaves to suit the climate. Says he voted labour, then he is a green ,and now he is back with the tories. I don’t know why he is not supportive of Reform, as there are probably more Tories within its ranks than UKIPpers or Brexit party flotsam.Checks field can never be wrong, because he is really a shape changing politician, who has never run anything to be accountable for.
Just popped in to see your still in full sail George. I must say you have stamina. Now do tell me what year you were elected to Kent County Council and when did you stand down as a Councillor from it?
I’ve done plenty of running actually, though charity cycle rides (for which I’ve raised thousands) was more my thing. So, on yer bike!
Is this a second leak then? I assume it is, unless Kemkaran issued an open memo and included in it the phrases she wanted her minions to parrot for her. She looks a fool and it’s her own doing.