Reform UK will face its first electoral test since its landslide victory to take control of Kent County Council (KCC) in May when two borough seats are contested this week.
Two Conservative-held wards at Maypole & Leyton Cross and Stone House in Dartford have been left vacant by Kyle Stealey and Tom Oliver, who have moved away.
Dartford council was overwhelmingly Conservative when voters went to the polls in 2023, capturing 29 of the 42 seats.
But Reform UK’s Thomas Mallon won a KCC by-election late last year in Swanscombe and Greenhithe and held it again in May.
Worryingly for the Tories, all the Dartford divisions at County Hall were taken by Nigel Farage’s party.
Conservative Dartford Council leader Jeremy Kite, who lost his KCC seat in May, said he was sorry to see Cllrs Stealey and Oliver go as “they had both done a good job” for Dartford.
He says party activists are working hard to retain the seats.
In late June, Dartford Labour MP Jim Dickson turned out on the campaign trail to support the party’s candidate Suneetha Giridhar in Stone House. Maypole and Leyton Cross’s candidate for Labour is David Johnson-Lang.
The Green Party launched its campaign under the rallying cry: “It’s time to give change the Green light.”
The Greens are fielding Julian Hood and Lewis Glynn as their candidates.
Reform’s leader at KCC Linden Kemkaran was in Dartford over the weekend campaigning for Stephen Ridley and James Buchan.
Reform UK will be keen to prove it has momentum since sweeping into power at KCC with 57 of the 81 seats on May 1.
Cllr Kemkraran was installed as leader on May 22 and has since vowed to find millions of pounds in savings and efficiencies.
The elections will be held on Thursday (July 17) and voters are reminded to bring a form of photo ID, such as a driving licence, to the polling station.
THE CANDIDATES:
Stone House ward
– James Alexander Buchan – Reform UK
– Suneetha Giridhar – Labour Party
– Julian Patrick Hood – Green Party
– Milan Suter Local Conservatives
Maypole & Leyton Cross ward
– Lewis Stuart Glynn – The Green Party
– David Stephen James Johnson-Lang – Labour Party
– Stephen Ridley – Reform UK
– Campbell Alexander Steven – Local Conservatives
