KCC deputy leader defends Reform's performance

Comments made about the performance of Reform UK at Kent County Council (KCC) are nothing more than "political gesturing", the local authority's deputy leader has said.

A number of MPs and councillors have voiced concerns after Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf resigned before returning shortly after to lead the party's Department of Government Efficiency Unit (DoGE).

Dover and Deal Labour MP Mike Tapp has said the Doge project is "already in disarray", while the leader of the Liberal Democrats at KCC, Antony Hook, described the situation as "utter chaos".

KCC deputy leader Brian Collins rejected the criticism and said the comments demonstrated why Reform had swept the May local elections.

He told BBC Radio Kent: "This is the opposition doing political gesturing.

"I understand why they're doing it, but this is one of the very reasons why Reform were voted in, because the public have had enough of this sort of nonsense."

He said the party was "very calm, we're very collected, we're focused" at county hall.

"If the opposition want to jump up and down because they haven't got anything better that they want to do with their time, let them get on with it," he added.

In the week since the Doge team attended its first meeting at KCC, Mr Yusuf resigned and returned, while Nathaniel Fried - who was said to be leading the Doge unit - also quit, citing a lack of faith in the project.

The unit's plan is to produce recommendations on how to reduce inefficiencies in spending, with the help of artificial intelligence, data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques.

In a letter to KCC leader Linden Kemkaran published over the weekend, Tapp said Reform's decisions were being driven by "populist rhetoric" rather than the interests of residents.

The MP wrote: "What residents need now is clarity, accountability and stability - not chaos, infighting and imported gimmicks."

Kemkaran responded in a letter to Tapp on Monday, telling him "people in glass houses probably shouldn't throw stones".

She wrote: "The manner in which your colleagues in Westminster have conducted themselves during the very short time they've been in power lends you no authority whatsoever to pass judgment on Reform UK."

The party has also faced accusations that there have not been any KCC committee meetings since it took control of the authority.

Denying there has been any kind of "hold up", Collins said: "We're not going to be rushed or pressured, we're going to do things properly.

"A lot of the first few weeks have obviously been setting up our committees, our cabinet positions, getting who we feel are the right people in these positions.

"It's a long process."

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