The new leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has sparked a backlash over plans to remove the Ukraine flag from the chamber.

Linden Kemkaran made the pledge after she was voted into her new post last Thursday evening, saying the gesture is a “distraction”.

But it prompted a wave of protest and condemnation from residents, fellow councillors and Ukrainians living here.

Defeated Conservative leader of KCC, Roger Gough, signed the previously-agreed memorandum of understanding (MOU) while in the Chernihiv region in November last year.

Last Thursday, as Mrs Kemkaran gave interviews to the media, she said: “We are here to represent the people of Kent. This is Kent County Council…a foreign war being fought thousands of miles away is simply a distraction.”

She paid tribute to the Ukrainian people, saying they are “amazing” and have made a contribution to British society, but added “a flag doesn’t change any of that”.

Her Reform UK leader Nigel Farage made it plain he wants only the Union flag and the county standard flying above town halls his party is in control of.

It is three years since Russian president Vladimir Putin’s army invaded Ukraine.

Anna Goodson, a Ukrainian from Zaporizhzhia, recently returned from her homeland where she attended her father’s funeral said she was “disappointed” by news of the flag’s removal from the chamber.

The mother-of-two, who is married to an Englishman, said: “It is sad the new leader thinks it is a distraction like it is a small thing but for us the backing of the UK and people in Kent is a massive thing.

“I have just come back from Ukraine and I saw things that you just don’t see on the news. There was destruction everywhere in every town and every city. The war has absolutely devastated the country.

“And as you travelled through it, you saw people saying goodbye to their loved ones at the bus stops.”

Conservative KCC Chairman Bryan Sweetland stays in post until May 22 and it is unlikely the flags will be removed before then.

He said: “We haven’t flown the Ukrainian flag on County Hall for quite a while. We always have the Kent Invicta and Union flags flying in any case.”

New leader of the opposition at KCC, Liberal Democrat Antony Hook, said: “The people of Kent support Ukraine and KCC should continue to do so too.

“The Ukrainian people have been victim of an aggressive military invasion, attempting to conquer their country, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

“Ukrainians have suffered war crimes by Russia including the torture of prisoners and kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children.

“This is the first time this has happened in Europe since the end of the Second World War. It is happening close to us. Ukraine is only 24 hours by car or a few hours flight from Kent.”

Mr Hook said Russian success in Ukraine makes the rest of Europe a more dangerous place, adding: “We must never forget or stop supporting Ukraine because their interests are our interests.

“If our support and that of counties across the UK can help Ukrainian morale in some way, that’s a good thing. I only wish we could do more.”

Green Party leader of Maidstone Borough Council and newly-elected KCC member, Stuart Jeffery, said: “The more I think about the removal of the Ukrainian flag from KCC, the angrier I get.

“The UK has strongly supported Ukraine in its efforts to push Russia back and of course we have a large number of Ukrainian refugees here now. So what does this act by Reform say to those people living in Kent?

“It basically says that KCC won’t show them solidarity anymore. It is a slap in the face to a a group of people who have had to flee war. Frankly, I think it is disgusting.”

Cllr Jeffery has tabled a question to be heard at full council on May 22.

It asks if asylum-seeking children, who must be cared for by KCC by law, will receive the support they require under the terms of the Equalities Act and will be “delivered in an equitable and non-discriminatory way”.

Iris Smith, who runs a Gravesend pub, has been a staunch supporter of Ukrainians in the UK since the war started in 2022.

She accompanied Vlad Sadovoi, a Dartford Grammar School pupil who had fled the conflict, to the KCC chamber last year.

Vlad, then 18, gave a speech, expressing gratitude to the people of Kent for giving him and his family refuge, which reduced some members to tears and earned a standing ovation.

Mrs Smith added: “Her (Linden Kemkaran’s) words were misjudged, and I was very disappointed to hear her say that the flag is a distraction.

“Don’t forget, Kent has an agreement of friendship with Ukraine.”