KENT, England — In a political earthquake that’s left jaws on the floor, Reform UK has seized control of Kent County Council, obliterating a Conservative majority that’s held firm for nearly three decades. The results, declared on May 2, 2025, after a bruising local election, mark a stunning rebuke of the Tories, who’ve been all but erased from a council they’ve dominated since 1997.
When the dust settled, Reform UK had clinched 57 of the council’s 81 seats—a haul that turned heads and rewrote the map. The Conservatives, who’d swaggered into the election with 55 seats, were gutted, limping away with just five. The Liberal Democrats nabbed 12, the Greens held steady with five, and Labour scraped by with two. It’s a result that’s got politicos scrambling to make sense of what hit them.
The Tory bloodbath spared no one, not even big names. Roger Gough, the council’s leader and a Conservative heavyweight, was among the casualties, swept away in a tide of voter fury. Before the vote, the council was a Tory fortress: 55 seats to Reform’s measly three, with a smattering of others—six Lib Dems, five Labour, five Greens, and a handful of independents and minor parties. One vacancy lingered. Now, Reform’s blue wave has redrawn the lines.
This wasn’t just a bad day for the Conservatives—it was a annihilation. Reform’s surge, built on promises to “fix a Broken Britain,” tapped into a deep well of frustration. Voters, fed up with the status quo, handed Nigel Farage’s party a mandate that’s impossible to ignore. Farage himself didn’t mince words, crowing that Reform had “literally, in one election, replaced what has been the natural party of government for Kent.” Bold words, but the numbers back him up.
The election, held on April 16, 2025, was a high-stakes affair, with all 81 seats up for grabs. Kent, a sprawling county of 1.8 million, has long been a bellwether for national trends, its mix of rural villages, coastal towns, and urban pockets a microcosm of England’s political soul. For the Tories, it’s been a heartland, a place where their blue rosettes were as common as seagulls. Not anymore.
Reform’s victory isn’t just about seats—it’s about momentum. The party, once dismissed as a fringe outfit, has now planted its flag in one of England’s biggest councils. The Lib Dems, picking up six seats for their 12, and the Greens, holding their ground, can claim some wins, but they’re sideshows to Reform’s main event. Labour’s measly two seats, down from five, underline the scale of the mainstream’s collapse.
What happens next is anyone’s guess, but the facts are stark. Reform UK now holds the reins of Kent County Council, a body responsible for everything from schools to roads to social care. The Conservatives, reduced to a rump, face a long road back. The council’s new makeup—57 Reform, 12 Liberal Democrats, five Conservatives, five Greens, two Labour—was confirmed on May 2, 2025, after every vote was counted.