Voices: ‘Couldn’t run a bath, let alone a council’: Readers slam Reform after Kent council chaos

If Reform UK ever won power in Westminster, many Independent readers believe it would look much like what’s happening in Kent – chaotic, divided and out of control.

Our community has been reacting after footage emerged of council leader Linden Kemkaran berating colleagues and telling them to “suck it up”, prompting the suspension of four councillors from Reform’s “flagship” Kent County Council.

Reform took control of the authority earlier this year in a shock local election victory, ending three decades of Conservative rule.

Many described the incident as proof that Reform is “imploding”, arguing that the chaos in Kent shows the party is “unfit to govern”.

Some cited Reform’s Elon Musk-inspired Dolge scheme as evidence of a group playing at politics rather than delivering serious governance.

Meanwhile, others accused the party of hypocrisy – promising efficiency and lower council tax but now mired in scandal and internal feuding.

Here’s what you had to say:

What did people expect? All these right-wing councils have turned out to be useless in the past – why did they think Farage and his right-wing cronies rebranding would be any different?

Though unlike Farage, at least they turn up to do their job. People of Clacton are still wondering when they will see their MP.

Hairyferrit

Reform couldn’t run a parish council either. Or a parent-teacher meeting. Doge? It’s public office, not business.

All they’ll do is cut vital services while keeping the contracts and tenders for the ‘boys’. Then say, look at the numbers. It’s nonsense. I work for a local council – that’s how it works.

And telling people to do one if they disagree? Sounds familiar. So when people say ‘they can’t be any worse than blah-blah’ – oh yes they can. Much worse. They’ll make Labour and the Tories look competent.

robertforton

The pack of cards (cards in more ways than one) are imploding and this is only the start. The reality is they could not even run their own bath, let alone a little council – imagine the chaos if they got to run our nation.

Just Saying

There soon won’t be a single Reform councillor left.

More than 30 have been expelled, suspended or have resigned since the local elections. Not all bad news then.

HASTINGSPIER

Brought the party into disrepute? With many other such embarrassments by inexperienced, unqualified or even teenaged councillors, what reputation did Reform ever have to start with? And having lying Brexiteer Farage as its owner – sorry, leader – it couldn’t get much worse, could it?

hayneman

We have seen this behaviour before in councils. It might be easy to get elected on the espousal of some form of hatred, but time and time again (and not just with Reform) we see that hatred does not equate to competence in governance.

Yeahyeah

Oh dear. These people look every bit as power mad as local politicians from any party. They are typical of the ‘we know best’ brigade of really annoying and expensive wasters who impose stupid policies on locals to the detriment of business, ratepayers and shoppers.

Also typical of the saying: “Those who seek power should never be allowed it.”

OlTom

Have a look at Kent County Council, where Reform were elected on a promise to save millions in “waste”. Trouble is, they can’t find any, and council tax is now likely to rise by the maximum 5 per cent. The Reform councillors are fighting like cats in a sack as their baseless promises meet reality.

This is a preview of what we are in for if we vote in these dodgy chancers at national level.

mG123

I am not surprised at Reform councillors wrangling in this fashion. Running an administration is serious business. The lack of experience, and even more concerning, the lack of respect for democratic functioning, shows. If they can’t function at a council level, they would be an unmitigated disaster in Westminster.

Reform would not be a wise choice at the next general election.

Labour is showing us what they truly are. The Lib Dems and the Greens are not serious contenders.

The choice, therefore, falls on a reformed Tory Party. I feel that they have learned their lessons, and they have the experience. The country should vote them in at the next general election.

Krispad

Standing on a soapbox or a stage with a microphone shouting slogans that you think people will want to hear is easy. Being in government, whether local or central, is very, very difficult.

Reform are very effective at electioneering, as has been proven by their polling, but the jury is well and truly out on their ability to govern. The ten local authorities which they currently control are the litmus test.

Fru T-Bunn

Labour and Conservative-controlled councils are absolutely terrified of their next local elections because, for many, it’s almost a certainty Reform will take over.

While many voters will ultimately refrain from voting for a Reform Westminster government, local elections are used as a protest vote – and those boats aren’t showing any sign of stopping.

Ian Robinson

We can laugh all we want at Reform – make fun of them, make jokes – which is what we did with Trump supporters, only for him to get re-elected and take his country on a path that, at one time, we could not even have imagined. The craziness that is the US today is a sad day for all of us. We’ve already let them break us away from the EU, to great detriment to ourselves.

Unless Labour and those on the left start addressing the very real issues that ordinary Reform supporters (and all of us) face – good jobs, decent affordable housing, a decent NHS, a decent education system – will support for Reform drop. Yes, we have to get a grip on immigration as well, but it becomes (almost) a moot point when the economy is doing well for the average person, not just the already wealthy. The disparity between the wealthiest and those at the bottom is obscene, to say the least. Otherwise, we too, like the US, will implode with a Farage PM.

punda

What I find utterly depressing is that, taking the US as a template, the other parts of our demography are all too willing to be ruled over by the first part.

In America, despite the first term, millions of so-called ‘decent’ Americans decided to sit the 2024 election out and let them have another go. Too many ‘decent’ Americans would rather ‘send a message’ via an empty ballot box than vote for the only woman who could stop Trump.

We are seeing the same here. Those councillors were elected, fair and square, with a turnout around 30 per cent. Thousands of ‘decent’ Kentish folk had something better to do than walk to a polling booth and vote to stop the rot setting in.

I bet that if they reran the council election on Thursday, the turnout would be about the same and a handful of voters would actually decide the result.

Instead of posturing and ‘sending a message’, the better end of the demographic needs to use their votes to stop these clowns.

Jim987

Here’s the simple and obvious reason why Reform hasn’t sunk – it’s because it’s not a genuine political party. It’s a limited company vehicle for Nigel Farage’s bluster. Without him, there is no Reform.

For me, it’s well-nigh impossible to imagine Farage and his band of ex-Tory mediocrities being able to keep it together in the medium term.

PinkoRadical

Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.

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Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk