Reform UK suspends whip from four councillors after 'bringing party into disrepute'

A Reform UK spokesman said: "Cllrs Paul Thomas, Oliver Bradshaw, Bill Barrett and Maxine Fothergill have had the whip suspended pending investigation, following evidence that they brought the party into disrepute."

GB News understands that their suspension relates to the leaked video.

In the May 2025 local elections, Reform UK won control of Kent County Council after winning 57 of the 81 seats, ending almost three decades of Conservative majority rule.

It is unclear who posted the video, which showed a Reform councillor telling members to "suck it up".

In the video, KCC leader Linden Kemkaran told her councillors: "I am not a dictator or an autocrat. I like feedback, I like to discuss. I like to hear what everybody thinks.

"However, when it comes to making the really big decisions, and LGR is one of those really big decisions."

She added: "Sometimes I will make a decision that might not be liked by everybody in the group. But I am afraid you are just going to have to f****** suck it up."

Paul Thomas, who is one of the four suspended, questioned whether Reform had the "right" leader and cabinet before he was muted by the council leader.

The leader said that managing to avoid raising council tax by 5 per cent would be the "best thing" for KCC.

She said: "People are looking at us, they are judging us every single day, every single minute of every single day. Nigel knows that. He is super aware that we are the flagship council."

There has been a rumoured split between many of Kent Reform’s backbench councillors and the appointed since they took over.

Observers are monitoring whether Reform UK's performance at the local level will offer a credible blueprint for national Government.

At the local level, Reform UK is already implementing policies rooted in its core ideologies, such as opposition to net-zero policies and efforts to curb "woke" initiatives.

Nigel Farage’s party is set to win the most seats if a General Election was called tomorrow, according to the latest polls.

In the 108 local council by-elections held since May, Reform has secured 30 per cent of the votes cast.

Labour and the Conservatives have got 17 per cent each, early half.

A major seat-by-seat poll of Westminster voting intention previously estimated that without tactical voting, Nigel Farages Party would win a supermajority in Parliament with 445 seats in a General Election.

Both Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, are likely to come under huge pressure from their own parties if they fail to show an increase in support at the May 2026 local elections.

A Labour Party spokesman, commenting on Reform suspending four councillors at Kent County Council, said: "Reform's leader in Kent said that Reform councils were ‘the biggest advert’ for what a Nigel Farage Government would look like. Well now we know what that means: complete chaos."

"For all Farage’s talk on cutting council waste hasn’t come close. Now members of his flagship council are fighting like rats in a sack.

"Reform is in meltdown and it’s local residents who will pay the price.

"Only Labour can be trusted to renew Britain, secure our borders, and put money back in people’s pockets. Reform have shown they aren’t up to the task and just can’t be trusted."

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