The instructions were so simple, weren’t they? 'If you want to pay less council tax, just vote Reform'.
Last May, the people of Kent did precisely that. Nigel Farage’s candidates were flung into power, scooping up 57 of the 81 available seats on the county council.
However, despite a promise to slash costs, the council’s leadership quickly discovered what anyone working in local government already knew: there was nothing more to cut.
As Kent’s cabinet member for adult social care put it, services were already “down to the bare bones”.
It’s a common story across the country.
Councils have been stripped back like an antique floorboard – central government grants fell by 40 per cent in real terms during the 2010s, according to the Institute for Government.
Most of what remains is spent on services that local authorities have a legal duty to provide, such as adult social care, which gets more expensive every year.
That doesn’t leave much room in the budget for libraries, parks, and other amenities that act as our civic glue.
And so in Kent, Reform is preparing to do the opposite of what it promised, raise council tax by five per cent.
This collision of rhetoric and reality is causing tensions at county hall.
Labour Councillor Sebastian Salek reveals some of the challenges facing Reform UK in Kent
|PA
A leaked video from August showed Kent leader Linden Kemkaran clashing with colleagues. Four councillors were suspended as a result of Kent's very own 'Jackie Weaver moment'.
However, the significance of this drama stretches far beyond the Garden of England.
Reform will be asking for your vote at the next general election – if not sooner – and they’ll use the same seductive playbook they deployed in Kent.
Solving the migrant crisis? Easy! Just deport all asylum seekers.
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Reform Cllr Linden Kemkaran (front centre), leader of the Reform UK Kent County Council group, with the Reform UK councillors elected to Kent County Council, | PACutting energy bills? Easy! Just scrap net zero.
Fixing the prison crisis? Easy! Just ship offenders overseas.
Those kinds of simplistic promises worked before because Reform enjoyed one major advantage.
As a new party, it had no track record. That allowed Farage to surf a wave of pure vibes, saying whatever was politically convenient at the time.
But not anymore. The Kent case study is our biggest clue yet to what a Reform Government could look like: internal chaos just three months in and flagship promises turned on their heads.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at Kent County Council | PAI don’t blame Kentish voters for plumping for Reform.
The harder life is, the more tempting it becomes to back a party offering simple solutions to the problems you care about.
But when Farage rolls out his promises at the next election, remember this cautionary tale.
Because the old aphorism stands: if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.