Reform has now lost 10 councillors at Kent County Council
In a sign of just how chaotic things are within the Reform group at Kent County Council, seven of the party’s expelled councillors have now joined Rupert Lowe’s new far-right party, Restore Britain.
The seven councillors named in a graphic Lowe posted were Maxine Fothergill, Robert Ford, Paul Thomas, Dean Burns, Isabella Kemp, Brian Black and Oliver Bradshaw.
Reform has dismissed the defections, saying Restore is “welcome to our dregs,” while Lowe has said “There will be many more [defectors] to come”.
Restore Britain has hardline policy positions, including its pledge to deport millions of migrants and hold a referendum on reintroducing the death penalty.
Reform UK removed six of the seven new Restore Britain councillors from its ranks last year.
Kemp was expelled for allegedly “leaking confidential information” after The Guardian obtained a video of Linden Kemkaran, the Reform council’s leader swearing at councillors.
In the video, Kemkaran told her fellow councillors “f****** suck it up” if they disagreed with her views on local government reorganisation.
Kemp denies leaking the information, and said that she offered to hand her devices in for “a forensic examination” but the party refused.
Ford was expelled amid allegations of misconduct from multiple women, and Fothergill was expelled for not telling the party that she had previously been sued for defamation.
Black, Thomas, and Bradshaw were expelled in October 2025 for what the party described as “a pattern of dishonest and deceptive behaviour”.
The Reform council has now lost 10 of its councillors, and if it loses six more would drop down to 41 seats out of 81 and lose control of the council.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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