Following last week’s local elections, Kent now has its first council where the Greens make up the biggest party. So, what can we expect? Here, political editor Paul Francis charts the rise of the Greens and what it could mean for the county...

Up until 2013, the Green Party was not represented on a single council in Kent. But a new county councillor ended that unenviable record when he unexpectedly won a seat in Folkestone.

The man was Martin Whybrow, who captured a seat in an area that had been relatively comfortable territory for the Conservatives for decades. Whybrow went on to serve another four-year term as a county councillor in 2017 before stepping down from the authority.

For the Greens, this breakthrough may have seemed modest, given the size of Kent and indeed the size of the authority, which had 80-plus councillors.

But it proved to be a pivotal moment. In the 2021 election, the party made some remarkable advances in Kent. It toppled two Conservative cabinet members, both in Tonbridge and Malling - not perhaps an area you would expect to be a hotbed of Green politics.

For Mark Hood, who captured one of the two seats, it was particularly pleasing: he stood as a candidate four years earlier but came close to bottom of the eight candidates.

There were other Green advances at the same election, the party picking up seats in Ashford and Swale. Its numbers and influence - it had by this stage six members on Folkestone and Hythe District Council - were growing to a point where it was far more than a sideshow.

You could track the increasing support to the emergence of global concerns around climate change and carbon emissions. But closer to home, it seemed the party was growing its support around more localised issues - notably, the impact of housing developments on the environment and the lack of infrastructure.

The election successes continued last week and once again Folkestone was seeing yet more Green councillors elected - 11 in total, one more than Labour on 10.

The numbers are important. The slump in support for the Conservatives - down to just four - means the Greens could be a significant force in a joint administration, a first for Kent. As things stand, it is not clear how a shared administration would work but the numbers are tight.

So, what can we expect from a council where the Greens are the biggest party? Its reputation elsewhere when it assumed control is mixed. In Kent, you sense that caution is being exercised - rash promises have a habit of coming back to bite you.

The party ran Brighton but did not have a distinguished track record. It set up a 20mph speed limit which was largely ignored. It was apparently riven by internal divisions. And it had to deal with a prolonged strike with the refuse company it contracted, with rubbish piling up on the streets (something which union leaders now warn could happen in Folkestone & Hythe – and other districts – if pay demands are not met). The Greens lost control of the city last week, an unwelcome blot on their successes elsewhere.

Still, you can’t begrudge the party giving itself a pat on the back for its progress in Kent. A press release on its election successes states: “People across Folkestone & Hythe district will get the change they demanded from a new council ready to listen, involve and act in their best interests.”

As a general statement of intent it works – but what precisely it means is something else.

However, on some of the more contentious issues the party is clear. It will scrap the development on Princes Parade and do “everything possible to provide affordable homes that are cheaper to heat and to insulate all council housing to reduce energy bills and to secure more biodiversity on council land and net carbon zero council buildings”.

On the controversial scheme to build up to 10,000 houses on the Otterpool development, it isn’t talking about scrapping the plans. Instead the Greens are focusing on the need for the project to be sustainable.

“Our goal has always been to promote a sustainable approach to planning that prioritises public transport, cycling, and walking, and ensures that new homes are built to the highest environmental standards.”

As for Dungeness being retained as a small nuclear reactor, it is ambivalent, saying: “Of course it is important that we create jobs in our district and work towards energy security.

“But wouldn’t it be better to focus our efforts on more achievable targets such as renewable energy generation on the Marsh? Or better still training local people up in retrofitting skills so that we could insulate more homes and reduce the demand for energy?

“Projects that can be up and running much more quickly than a nuclear reactor ever could.”

A commitment to do politics differently - usually by pledging to listen - is always going to attract voters but the trick is to find a way to keep them listening.

For the moment, one of the Green Party’s attractions is that it is still outside the political mainstream. The irony is that as its numbers grow, there may come a time when it is drawn into that mainstream.

For now, it is “discussing a possible alliance to establish a stable, secure and productive administration that will deliver the things the Greens promised voters at this election”.

There is no doubt the party has surprised many by its rapid progress. To go from having just two elected councillors in Kent in 2018 to 47 today is no mean feat.

The question now is how it will deliver on the party’s manifesto commitments.