Farage backs council boss '100%' in leak aftermath

Nigel Farage has said he backs Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran "100%" after Reform UK expelled five councillors.

Kemkaran told the BBC that she would not resign following the fallout from a leaked online meeting involving the party's Kent councillors.

Reform UK has since kicked five councillors out for bringing the party into "disrepute" and displaying a "lack of integrity".

Farage told BBC South East the party was "better off without" councillors who "don't want to play the game", adding: "Linden is absolutely right about that."

He said: "A couple of them behaved very, very badly. If you don't have integrity and trust within a team then you're in danger of becoming like all the other parties."

Councillors Robert Ford, Bill Barrett, Oliver Bradshaw, Brian Black and Paul Thomas have been removed from the party since the video leak.

Ford was suspended after Reform said it received an unofficial complaint from several female members of staff.

He told the BBC it was "a surprise to hear" of the complaint and he would be "looking to take legal action against those complaining".

The party suspended Thomas, Bradshaw, Barrett and councillor Maxine Fothergill, who has not been permanently kicked out, days after the meeting video was leaked.

Linden Kemkaran, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and council deputy leader Brian Collins, said she would not resign

Barrett said on Wednesday the party "still have absolutely no idea" who leaked the video and leaders in Kent have an "inability to treat human beings with respect".

"A lack of experience and probably a lack of human decency has led them to behave in this manner," he said.

The former cabinet post holder claimed he was expelled over screenshots of messages in a party branch WhatsApp chat criticising a Kent leadership figure.

Reform UK said Barrett was "an individual who has shown a pattern of dishonesty and deception" and the councillor's "involvement in the leaking of a confidential meeting betrayed the trust" of its voters.

"His campaign to undermine the leadership has been in full swing since he was removed from his cabinet position in July," a spokesperson said.

Fothergill and Thomas deny being the source of the leak.

Bradshaw and Black are yet to comment.

'No apology'

At least five Reform UK councillors have reportedly lodged official complaints with the party about the leadership style of the Kent party bosses.

The video appeared to show Kemkaran swearing and telling councillors to "suck it up" regarding some of her decisions, then later threatening to mute a councillor.

On Tuesday, Kemkaran said: "Occasionally I use language that could be described as slightly fruity. I make no apology for that."

She said the leaked video was down to "sour grapes" and that "not everybody has the same sense of service and duty and responsibility".

Reform took control of Kent County Council by winning 57 seats in May's local elections but currently has 49 member councillors, according to the council's website.

Kemkaran said: "We may be smaller but we are far more muscular than we were before. It's business as normal."

Additional reporting by PA Media