The 2025 Kent County Council election took place on 1 May 2025 to elect members to Kent County Council in Kent, England. Reform UK won a majority of the 81 seats, as the Conservatives lost the vast majority of their seats including most of the Cabinet. Reform won all seats in the Ashford, Dartford, Dover, Gravesham and Thanet districts.
This was on the same day as other local elections; Kent County Council had asked for the election to be postponed under the devolution programme but this was rejected, so the election was held as planned.
Background In the 2021 election, the Conservatives won 62 seats, giving them a majority and control of the council. The Labour Party were the second biggest party with 7 seats, followed by the Liberal Democrats with 6 seats and the Greens with 1 seat. Mike Baldock of the Swale Independents was elected in Swale West.
Several by-elections took place between the 2021 and 2025 elections:
+By-electionsDivisionDateIncumbentWinnerCauseWilmington27 January 2022Ann AllenAv SandhuDeathHythe West2 March 2023Andy WeatherheadJenni HawkinsResignationSheppey5 May 2023Cameron BeartMike WhitingDeathMaidstone Central6 July 2023Dan DaleyChris PassmoreDeathSwanscombe and Greenhithe21 November 2024Peter HarmanThomas MallonDeath
In March 2024, councillor Trevor Shonk of Ramsgate left the Conservative Party to join the Thanet Independents. Later that month, councillor Mike Whiting of Sheppey was suspended from the Conservatives following a drink driving conviction and sat the rest of his term as an independent.
In the 2024 general election, the Labour Party won 10 of the Kent seats from the Conservatives (Ashford, Chatham and Aylesford, Dartford, Dover and Deal, Folkestone and Hythe, Gillingham and Rainham, Gravesham, Rochester and Strood, Sittingbourne and Sheppey and East Thanet), while retaining Canterbury. The Liberal Democrats won Tunbridge Wells from the Conservatives, who retained Faversham and Mid Kent, Maidstone and Malling, Herne Bay and Sandwich, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge while winning the new Weald of Kent seat. Overall, of the Kent seats, the Labour Party won 11, the Conservative Party won 6 and the Liberal Democrats won 1.
In October 2024, councillor Barry Lewis of Margate was deselected by the Labour Party for the upcoming election citing "concerning comments" and allegations of election betting, leading him to leave the party and serve the rest of his term as an independent. In January 2025, councillor Dirk Ross of Ashford South left the Conservative Party to sit as an independent.
Previous council composition +Seats held by each partyParty After2021 electionBefore 2025 election 62 57 7 6 6 6 4 5 0 3 1 1 0 1 0 2 Swanscombe & Greenhithe Residents' Association 1 0
Changes 2021–2025 October 2021: Ann Allen (Conservative) dies – by-election held January 2022 January 2022: Av Sandhu (Conservative) wins by-election November 2022: Andy Weatherhead (Conservative) resigns – by-election held March 2023 January 2023: Cameron Beart (Conservative) dies – by-election held May 2023 March 2023: Jenni Hawkins (Green) gains by-election from Conservatives; Dan Daley (Liberal Democrats) dies – by-election held July 2023 May 2023: Mike Whiting (Conservative) wins by-election July 2023: Chris Passmore (Liberal Democrats) wins by-election March 2024: Trevor Shonk (Conservative) joins Thanet Independents; Mike Whiting (Conservative) suspended by party August 2024: Peter Harman (Swanscombe & Greenhithe Residents' Association) dies – by-election held November 2024 October 2024: Barry Lewis (Labour) suspended from party November 2024: Thomas Mallon (Reform UK) gains by-election from Residents' Association January 2025: Dirk Ross (Conservative) leaves party to sit as an independent March 2025: Trevor Shonk (Thanet Independents) and Dirk Ross (independent) join Reform UK; Becki Bruneau (Conservative) joins Heritage Party
Opinion polling
Voting intention
Date(s)conductedPollsterClientSamplesizeAreaConLabGrnLDRefOthersLead 1 – 10 Mar 2025 Electoral Calculus Daily Telegraph5,421GB27%19%8%12%29%5%26 May 20212021 local elections––49.1%20.5%13.8%11.1%0.4%5.1%28.6
Seat projections
Date(s)conductedPollsterClientSamplesizeAreaConLabGrnLDRefOthersMajority 1 – 10 Mar 2025 Electoral Calculus Daily Telegraph5,421GB2532941116 May 20212021 local elections––627460243
Summary The election saw Reform UK win a majority of the seats on the council for the first time, taking 57 of the council's 81 seats. The Conservatives lost the majority they had held since 1997, and their leader Roger Gough lost his seat. Reform UK chose Linden Kemkaran, who had not been a councillor prior to the election, to be their group leader. She was formally appointed as the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 22 May 2025.
Election result
Division results by district
Ashford
+Ashford district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 7 7 14,754 41.8 N/AConservative 0 6 7,622 21.6 –35.7Green 0 1 5,231 14.8 –1.9Labour 0 4,161 11.8 –5.7Liberal Democrats 0 2,154 6.1 –1.5Ashford Ind. 0 1,303 3.7 N/AHeritage 0 75 0.2 N/ATotal735,30034.8Registered electors101,316–
Division results
Canterbury
+Canterbury district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 3 3 12,657 31.1 N/ALabour 2 8,174 20.1 –8.7Liberal Democrats 2 1 6,788 16.7 +1.0Green 1 1 5,599 13.7 +2.7Conservative 0 5 7,587 18.4 –25.4Heritage 0 27 0.1 N/ATotal840,74836.7Registered electors111,681–
Division results
Dartford PartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 6 6 9,997 40.9 +38.9Conservative 0 4 7,370 30.2 –22.7Labour 0 1 4,424 18.1 –12.7Green 0 1,819 7.4 +2.4Residents 0 1 641 2.6 –6.7Liberal Democrats 0 157 0.6 +0.6Heritage 0 31 0.1 +0.1
Dover
+Dover district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 7 7 19,697 42.5 N/ALabour 0 9,285 20.0 –9.1Conservative 0 7 8,835 19.1 –31.5Green 0 4,340 9.4 –1.0Liberal Democrats 0 3,686 8.0 +2.9Independent 0 466 1.0 –3.0Heritage 0 33 0.1 N/ATotal746,34235.3Registered electors89,273–
Division results
Folkestone and Hythe
+Folkeston & Hythe district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 5 5 14,293 43.5 +42.4Liberal Democrats 1 1 3,586 10.9 –0.1Green 0 5,545 16.9 +2.6Conservative 0 5 5,306 16.1 –31.0Labour 0 1 3,870 11.8 –8.1Independent 0 136 0.4 –1.4Socialist (GB) 0 85 0.3 –0.2Homeland 0 50 0.2 N/ATotal632,87138.8Registered electors84,909–
Division results
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Gravesham PartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 5 5 16,141 44.1 +44.1Labour 0 1 8,219 22.43 –15.7Conservative 0 4 8,193 22.36 –28.8Green 0 3,401 9.3 +4.1Liberal Democrats 0 683 1.9 –3.6
Maidstone
+Maidstone district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 7 7 18,029 34.6 +34.1Liberal Democrats 1 1 9,552 18.4 –1.7Green 1 1 8,753 16.8 +4.2Conservative 0 7 12,030 23.1 –25.0Labour 0 3,416 6.6 –8.4British Democrats 0 70 0.1 N/AIndependent 0 70 0.1 –3.7Homeland 0 64 0.1 N/AHeritage 0 57 0.1 N/ATotal952,04132.1Registered electors134,324–
Division results
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Sevenoaks
+Sevenoaks district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 4 4 9,889 32.4 N/AConservative 1 4 9,875 32.3 –24.0Liberal Democrats 1 6,246 20.4 +3.0Green 0 2,815 9.2 –4.6Labour 0 1,721 5.6 –4.3Total630,54634.4Registered electors90,433–
Division results
Swale
+Swale district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 5 5 19,210 44.2 +43.6Liberal Democrats 1 4,160 9.6 +0.3Green 1 3,621 8.3 –4.2Conservative 0 4 5,737 13.2 –33.2Swale Ind. 0 1 5,083 11.7 –6.2Labour 0 4,069 9.4 –2.8Independent 0 1,557 3.6 +2.5Total743,43731.4Registered electors112,247–
Division results
Thanet
+Thanet district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Reform UK 7 7 19,932 39.7 +39.2Conservative 0 5 9,375 18.7 –26.8Green 0 8,824 17.6 –1.9Labour 0 2 8,802 17.6 –7.0Liberal Democrats 0 2,447 4.9 +0.9Independent 0 772 1.5 ±0.0Total750,15231.5Registered electors104,443–
Division results
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Tonbridge and Malling
+Tonbridge & Malling district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Conservative 3 1 12,493 27.9 –21.4Green 2 11,936 26.6 –2.1Reform UK 1 1 11,678 26.1 N/ALiberal Democrats 1 6,047 13.5 +2.8Labour 0 2,649 5.9 –2.4Independent 0 8 <0.1 N/ATotal744,81144.6Registered electors100,550–
Division results
Tunbridge Wells
+Tunbridge Wells district summaryPartySeats+/-Votes%+/-Liberal Democrats 5 5 9,779 32.5 +10.8Conservative 1 5 6,713 22.3 –21.5Reform UK 0 6,868 22.8 +22.6Green 0 2,126 7.1 –4.6Labour 0 2,049 6.8 –10.0Alliance 0 1,968 6.5 +2.8IfTW 0 599 2.0 N/ATotal630,10234.4Registered electors87,640–
Division results
Post election changes In June 2025, a Reform councillor (Daniel Taylor, Cliftonville) was suspended after being arrested.BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c07p2n39d18o In September 2025, a Reform councillor defected to UKIP.BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly67nddy12o In October 2025, Reform suspended one councillor over conductITV https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2025-10-14/reform-uk-councillor-suspended-after-allegations-of-misconduct and a further four councillors after a leadership dispute.Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-uk-nigel-farage-kent-council-video-b2848323.html In February 2026, 7 former Reform councillors joined Restore Britain.BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg1d551weko In February 2026, the former Reform councillor was disqualified after being jailed for controlling and coercive behaviour towards his wife, triggering a by-electionhttps://searchlightmagazine.com/2026/02/nasty-and-violent-reform-councillor-jailed. In April 2026, the by-election was held in Cliftonville, resulting in Green gain.
Cliftonville by-election, 9 April 2026 The by-election attracted significant attention. Green Party leader Zack Polanski visited the seat and campaigned for Yates. Local media described the campaign as being more akin to a general election than a typical county council by-electionhttps://theisleofthanetnews.com/2026/04/10/kent-county-council-cliftonville-division-by-election-count-and-result-live/.
The by-election resulted in a Green gain from Reform UK on an increased turnout. It was the second such gain following the Green victory in Horsley in January 2026https://electionmaps.uk/council-by-elections#LE2025-LE2026.
Notes
References
See also
Kent County Council elections