Isabella Kemp, a Reform UK councillor on Kent County Council and former data protection officer at the party’s headquarters, has resigned after what she described as a lapse of judgement. Her departure brings to nine the number of councillors lost by Reform UK since the May local elections, when 57 were elected.
Kemp has initiated proceedings to take Reform UK to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal, and has contacted the conciliation service Acas and the whistleblowing charity Protect. The party suspended her shortly before a full council meeting on Thursday, which was dominated by questions about internal turmoil following the leak of a recording showing council leader Linden Kemkaran telling dissenting colleagues to “fucking suck it up”.
During the meeting, Kemkaran faced calls from Liberal Democrat councillors to reinstate Kemp as chair of the adult social care and public health cabinet committee. The suspension had also caused a previous committee meeting on school transport appeals to be cancelled because the chair was among those suspended.
Kemkaran compared her experience to that of her son in military training, saying some councillors had quit because they “couldn’t hack it” or been thrown out for “bad behaviour”. When asked if her behaviour aligned with the Nolan principles, she simply answered “yes”.
Opposition councillors also pressed the administration on council tax, after Reform had promised savings in its election leaflets. A senior Reform member had earlier suggested rates might rise by 5%. Cabinet member Brian Collins said no decision had been made pending a government funding review.
Labour councillor Alister Brady accused Reform of “running away from residents” on the issue, while Tory group leader Harry Rayner described the council as “mired in the consequences of self-inflicted damages” and “a laughing stock”. Kent County Council has an annual budget of £2.5bn.
