Reform UK expels two Kent councillors accused of ‘undermining’ its interests

Two suspended Reform UK councillors from Kent have been expelled from the party over a misconduct allegation and after the Guardian published a leaked video which revealed tensions among its county council ranks. Robert Ford and Bill Barrett were removed from the party via an email from Reform HQ on Monday, which said they had “undermined” the interests of the party and brought it into “disrepute”. Ford and Barrett sat on Kent county council alongside Oliver Bradshaw, Paul Thomas and Maxine Fothergill, who were also suspended last week. The Guardian understands Thomas, Bradshaw and Fothergill remain suspended pending investigation. Ford, a councillor for Maidstone Rural West, was suspended after allegations of misconduct in an “unofficial complaint” from several female members of Kent county council staff. Barrett, representing Ashford, had been critical of the council hierarchy, and was suspended alongside Thomas, Bradshaw and Fothergill. Ford has claimed no details were put to him about where, when and how he acted, according to the BBC. “There is not one shred of evidence against me,” he said. The suspensions and expulsions mean that 48 Reform councillors remain on the Kent council, after the party’s May election win of 57 seats. Two other councillors had been suspended, while a third has joined Ukip. A Reform spokesperson said: “Councillors Barrett and Ford have been expelled as their conduct undermined the interests of the party and brought Reform UK into disrepute.” The footage of the meeting in August, which was first published by the Guardian, revealed councillors complaining about “backbiting” and being ignored by their leader, Linden Kemkaran, who told them to “fucking suck it up” if they did not agree with her decisions. Kemkaran also called the council, which has a budget of more than £2.5bn, a “shop window” for what Reform could do if it ran the country. She is understood to have told her fellow councillors in an email the previous weekend that she had launched a hunt for the “cowards” who had leaked the recorded meeting. Antony Hook, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Kent county council, told the Guardian the “chaos” in the Reform group was having a direct impact on their constituents in need. He said a council committee that would have been involved in school transport issues, and which was due to take place on Wednesday, had been cancelled as a result of the suspensions.