‘Apocalyptic’ situation for Tories – Kent leader

The Conservative leader of Kent County Council has described his party’s situation at the local elections as “apocalyptic”.

Roger Gough said he was not sure he would hang on to his own seat at Sevenoaks and Darent Valley North.

It comes as the results have started to be declared in Kent with the Conservatives losing 13 of the first 15 seats, 12 of which were won by Reform UK.

All 72 electoral divisions across the county are up for election – equating to 81 councillors in total.

Gough described his party’s situation as “apocalyptic” and added: “That’s the only way I can describe it.”

The Conservatives had overall control of the authority with 56 of the 81 councillors before the vote.

At 13:45 BST with 15 seats declared, 12 of them went to Reform UK, two to the Liberal Democrats and one to Labour.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told BBC Radio Kent: “It’s looking a very good day for us in Kent, I’m being told it could even be a majority win for us. That will help the celebrations tonight.”

Counting started on Friday morning and results were expected by 19:00 BST.

Who has been in charge?

Before the 2025 vote, the council was made up of 55 Conservatives, six Liberal Democrats, five Labour councillors (including Labour and Co-operative), five Green Party members, four Independent councillors, three Reform UK members, one Heritage Party councillor, one Swale Independents councillor, and there was one vacancy.

Kent County Council has been Conservative-run for most of its existence.

Since it was created in its current format in 1974, it has had a Conservative leader for all but four years, as between 1993 and 1997 the authority was led by joint leaders from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

In 1997, the Conservatives won their majority back, which they have held onto since, although their authority was shaken in the 2013 election when Ukip became the second largest party on the council, before losing all their seats four years later.

What happened at the last election?

In the last county council election in 2021, the Conservatives won 49% of the vote, securing 61 seats.

In terms of seats won, the Lib Dems came second with six, Labour got five and the Green Party secured four.

Reform UK did not win any seats.