Reform UK’s “flagship” local authority, Kent county council, has been condemned for pushing through plans to spend tens of thousands of pounds on hiring political assistants.
The move comes after councillors from Nigel Farage’s party in Warwickshire were accused of hypocrisy in July when they voted to spend £150,000 on the advisers, some of whom are being parachuted in by the national party to deal with a litany of issues at Reform-run councils.
Both councils face budget crises and Reform candidates were voted in on pledges to cut waste and save money.
A new leaked recording of a meeting of the Reform councillors in Kent – wearing turquoise Santa’s elf hats – showed them being told earlier this week by one of their leaders, Maxwell Harrison, that a former Reform director of campaigning and training at the party’s head office had been hired by the council as a “political assistant”.
Harrison named him as Michael Hadwen, who has attracted controversy for social media posts including expressing support for Enoch Powell’s ideas about immigration.
In response to a tweet by Daniel Hannan, the Conservative politician, which said that Powell was wrong about immigration, Hadwen said: “Enoch was right, he was just before the times.”
In April 2018 – about a month after Russian agents attempted to assassinate Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury – Hadwen also said that “Russia is not my enemy”, adding: “We should be working with them, and not throwing around threats like a spoilt child.”
The appointment was voted through on Thursday with 45 votes in favour and 26 against at a meeting of Kent county council, where Reform continues to hold a majority after it purged a number of councillors amid bitter internal divisions.
Those reprisals came after footage leaked to the Guardian showed Reform councillors squabbling among themselves and being told to “fucking suck it up” by their leader, Linden Kemkaran.
‘Suck it up’: Exclusive footage reveals tensions inside Reform UK council – video
Reform UK has used a clause in the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 which allows councils to appoint a maximum of three persons to provide assistance to members of political groups. The assistants can be paid salaries of up to £49,282, excluding national insurance and pension contributions.
The Liberal Democrat group leader, Antony Hook, accused Reform of “wanting to spend public money on a political apparatchik to tell them what to do”.
He said: “Kent county council is in a worsening financial state under Reform with the projected overspend now at £46m and rising.
“The person mentioned appears to have a record of concerning views such as endorsing the racist Enoch Powell who spoke against the idea people of different races living happily together in Britain. The person named has evidently also said we should work with Russia.”
A Reform UK Kent spokesperson said: “Providing professional political support to its leadership is entirely proportionate, and the role will be cost neutral.
“Kent county council’s budget is double that of the Treasury department, which has eight political advisers, and larger than the Department for Business and Trade, who employ four political advisers, despite both already employing armies of civil servants.
“Political assistants are a normal and established part of local government. Many councils, including the Lib Dem-controlled Gloucestershire county council, have allocated budgets for these roles.”
