The Green Party joint leader says a left-leaning “rainbow” coalition is possible at Kent County Council (KCC) after the May 1 elections.

Carla Denyer, who is an MP for Bristol, said the Greens “fundamentally believe in” cross-party collaboration.

Ms Denyer visited Dartford today to support local candidate Laura Edie ahead of the KCC polls in less than a week’s time.

She said the Green Party’s time has arrived as voters have become “disillusioned” by the two-party system in Britain.

KCC, which has been run by the Conservatives since 1997, will elect 81 members to County Hall and the Greens have been targeting specific seats they think they can win, including Dartford north east.

The seat is held by Labour’s Kelly Grehan, who narrowly defeated the Conservative candidate in 2021.

Asked if the Greens would go into a coalition or “rainbow alliance” at County Hall, Ms Denyer said: “That’s up to the Green councillors who get elected rather than me but it is certainly something that they would consider and it is a cross-party way of working that the Greens fundamentally believe in.

“We don’t believe that anyone has a monopoly on good ideas and we are always prepared to work with like-minded parties on areas that we agree.

“I think it is a party whose time has come - we stand not just for the environment but also for fairness and at a time when the Labour Party is increasingly moving away from that kind of thinking and are frankly much closer to the Conservatives in terms of both social and economic policy, it is the Greens that are standing up and challenging the Labour Government.”

Ms Denyer said that many people are feeling “really let down” by the direction of the Labour government,

She added: “We are for creating a country that is fairer as well as greener.”

But the Green Party leader did back new government powers for greater punishments, including prison sentences for water company bosses who cover up sewage spills into the country’s waterways.

Ministers say the threat of tougher sentences would act as a "powerful deterrent".

“I think it is absolutely right that people who are earning millions of pounds from companies that are failing to deliver basic public services should face the consequences of that.

“But the Greens would go further because we’re clear the source of this problem is the privatisation of an essential public service which should be in public hands. If you think about it, water companies are a natural monopoly.

“If you live in Kent you can’t choose to be supplied by Yorkshire Water and so the supposed benefits of privatisation just don’t stack up because you don’t have the competition that can in certain circumstances drive better performance.”

Ms Denyer remains “sceptical” bosses would be imprisoned but that hefty fines might be “a more persuasive way”.

She added: “But that is not enough on its own and that is why companies that are persistently failing to deliver the public services that they are being paid a huge amount from our bills to do need to be brought back into public hands.”

In the coming years, all Kent’s councils including KCC will be dismantled and replaced by a smaller number of larger unitary local authorities.

But the the Green leader is unimpressed by the Labour government’s approach to devolution and council reforms.

The former Bristol city councillor said: “We are really disappointed in the way the Labour government is imposing local government reorganisation top down. They had no mandate for this; it is not in their manifesto and is being imposed on local communities regardless of whether it is what local people want.”

Ms Denyer believes the Greens’ policies are resonating with the public mood.

She said: “The Greens are in administration over 40 councils across England and Wales and here in Kent we already have five councillors and I am pretty confident we are going to see significant gains on that.

“I’m really grateful for the support people are giving to the Greens and we are having really valuable conversations on the doorstep. We get to hear what people care about as well as them getting to hear what the Greens stand for.

“I think people are feeling really disillusioned with Labour and the Conservatives and who they feel have abandoned them and aren’t standing up for them anymore. But they are feeling more hopeful of voting Green as they see us really embedded in our local communities and working hard for neighbourhoods all year round rather than just turning up at election time.”

Dartford north east candidate Laura Edie, who works in a special needs school, said: “People are sick to death of the two main parties - they’ve had enough. There was a tiny bit of hope when Labour got in but they’ve just carried on with the same austerity policies.

“I do think there’s a lot of people who are undecided how they going to vote but a lot are going towards the Green because we have a more hopeful message than say Reform which are seen as a protest vote.

“Our party is not backed by big corporations and we don’t have big party donors and our candidates are just everyday local people. I think that comes through on the doorstep that we are community based and hard workers”

Ms Edie said that among undecided voters of potential Reform UK supporters, issues which crop up are immigration and the state of the roads.

She added that Reform has “scapegoated” immigrants and built a “myth” around them.

While acknowledging under-investment by government in local councils, Ms Edie added: “KCC is on the point of bankruptcy and has been run by the Conservatives for a long time. We have already got a strong opposition at KCC with the Kent Greens.

“We fought the cuts to buses, for instance, but if we led the council we could push for greater investment in things like social care and we need more money for special needs education.”

Cllr Kelly Grehan said: ““The Labour team have knocked thousands of doors in this campaign, and we are getting great support from local people.

“It's clear residents want a councillor with a track record of delivery for this area. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved with residents over the last four years - taking action on road safety, holding KCC to account for awful bus services and supporting our SEND families who have been let down by the Conservative run Council.

“If I have the honour of being re-elected on May 1st, I'll keep fighting for our community. There is so much still to do after years of national and local Tory waste and mismanagement.

“The choice at this election is clear – positive change with Labour or risk a Reform candidate who won’t stand up for our community.

“The Green Party don’t have any answers for the challenges we have in Dartford North East and a vote for the Greens is only going to help Reform.”

The candidates standing in Dartford north east are:

EDIE, Laura - The Green Party

FRYER, Ben Robert - Reform UK

GREHAN, Kelly Jane - Labour Party

QUAQUMEY, Clement - Local Conservatives