Kent: Reform UK urges realism on 'what we can and can't do'

A newly-elected Reform UK councillor in Kent has said the party is "not going to fix all the problems straight away".The party secured a majority of 45 seats on Kent County Council at the local election on Friday, all but wiping the Conservatives off the political map at the authority. David Wimble, who was elected councillor for Romney Marsh with 64% of the vote, said: "We need to be realistic about what we can and can't do."Appearing on Politics South East, he said: "I think the biggest worry is that they will expect to go in and make changes straight away and all of the panel here today know that's just not possible."
He added: "Somebody stopped me today and said 'when are you going to stop the boats then?'. This is the county council."Some Reform UK leaflets delivered in Kent did feature national party messaging, including a pledge to "stop the boats".When challenged about this promise, Mr Wimble said he focused his campaign purely on local issues and on "the things that we can do".The new councillor sought to temper expectations, emphasising that the new cohort would need time to get up and running.He said: "People are saying 'what are you going to do on day one?'."Well, it's not easy to do anything as a snap decision. Our party is made up of 57 new members, of those 57, I think six of us have had previous political experience."Mr Wimble rejected concerns over lack of experience."All the [candidates] that have been elected have got experience of running their own businesses," he said."They've had the problems of paying the wages at the end of the month. They've got the problems with the rates and council tax and things like that."Meanwhile, the outgoing Conservative leader of the council, Roger Gough, urged Reform UK to take the issues facing the authority "seriously".Speaking directly to Mr Wimble, Mr Gough said: "The county is now in your hands. What I would say is, please take the issues on that seriously."Because ultimately, issues like equality and diversity, climate change, they are tiny amounts of expenditure in the context of the council compared with the really big issues – adult social care, children's social services, special educational needs – those are the things that any successful council is going to have to grapple with."That's going to be the way to build a secure future for the county and the council."Mr Wimble said the party "takes it all very seriously".The local Reform UK party will meet this week to vote for a council leader. Mr Wimble has thrown his hat in the ring and said he would like to share the position with another councillor.The new leadership would be in place by "next weekend", he added.

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