Council Elections -1st May: Kent County Council

The Tories currently dominate Kent County Council — running major services like education, social care and highways — after securing over 70% of the seats in 2021. But with Reform UK now threatening to take chunks out of their majority, the council could fall into no overall control, raising the prospect of a Tory–Reform coalition — and setting a dangerous precedent for national politics. 

Labour and the Lib Dems, with just six county seats between them, have limited reach here, though the Lib Dems traditionally benefit from Tory decline. The Greens, however, are positioning themselves as a serious alternative, aiming to build on their five county seats by winning four more in Maidstone and 15 across Kent. 

Reform’s strategy — pushing national anger over immigration while campaigning locally on potholes, housing and council spending — is designed to blunt Labour and Green advances in urban centres where they are more competitive.

This echoes Kent’s volatile political past: in 2013, UKIP surged to become the second-largest party on Kent County Council, only to collapse four years later. Borough councils (like Maidstone’s) deal with day-to-day issues like rubbish collection and council tax, but it’s the county council that controls the big, strategic services. 

Reform knows that winning here would make headlines — and give Farage’s new movement a platform far bigger than a few angry online videos.