The team appointed by Nigel Farage to slash spending at Reform’s new flagship local authority Kent County Council (KCC) has submitted a progress report based on inaccurate and misleading information derived from the party’s own former chairman’s social media account, opposition councillors claim.

The ‘Progress of the Kent Department of Local Government Efficiency’ report, released on July 16, was delivered with the stated aim of providing “an introduction to the work of the Kent DOLGE and the priorities of the administration”, and followed an announcement by the new leader of KCC, Linden Kemkaran, about proposed savings to the council budget.

However, the appendix, issued as a “reply from Reform Head Office to some questions” asked of DOLGE by the local authority scrutiny committee are simply references to tweets sent by former Reform chair Zia Yusuf between 4 June and 16 June 2025.

Many of them have been found to contain inaccuracies and distortions of the truth, and the appendix – which appears to try and counter some of the backlash the tweets received – fails to address the core concerns.

The three-page report came under heavy opposition scrutiny at a council meeting the day it was released, with members stating that “never has a committee waited so long, for so little”.

Reform members were also asked by committee members if any of them would be willing to distance themselves from Yusuf’s tweets, which were accused of causing reputational damage to the council.

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