What we witnessed today in the Kent County Council elections was less a political "earthquake” as the Liberal Democrat Richard Streatfeild put it and more like an Exocet.

It was lethal and effective.

To see the Conservatives reduced to five seats when they started the day on 57 is almost unthinkable.

The new Reform UK administration has full control of the council and cannot be outvoted by the other parties, who number just 24 in total.

So what of the Conservatives? The Tory Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott described the catastrophe that befell them today as “potentially existential”.

A former back bencher put it slightly more succinctly when he said: “Reform is the new Conservative Party. They have nicked many of the values of traditional Conservatism and they appeal in a way that Thatcher did 40 years ago.

“How we build back from here is impossible to know.”

Reform UK inherits some of the problems that ousted KCC leader Roger Gough soon found when he had 60-odd in the chamber at County Hall in 2021.

The sheen of victory tarnishes very quickly when the day-to-day business has to be done.

Once the cabinet and deputy cabinet jobs are doled out, there will still be more than 30 sitting on the back benches wondering why they were not picked.

As Mr Gough can attest to, bored and dispirited rank and file members start to cause trouble.

The Tory back bench was full of plotting cabals, whose allegiances could shift from one day to the next.

They felt excluded from the top table’s decision making because that is what the cabinet system is in danger of creating.

Unless there is some sort of never-ending, cosy love-in, the new Reform UK council leader and top team will soon experience this, too.

These are changing times for local government. Reform UK will have to oversee the dismantling of KCC as the new unitary authorities come into being in a few years’ time.

That means the members at County Hall will meet their electors sooner than the full four-year term and defend their record.

Its cabinet will be responsible for a £1.5bn budget, which sounds like a vast sum but, in fact, does not cover the cost of the services it must provide by law.

If the new leader thinks there is a legion of hidden woke appointments costing the beleaguered tax-payer tens of millions, then he or she may possibly be greatly disappointed.

Cllr Antony Hook, the new leader of the opposition and his deputy Cllr Streatfeild, will present a small but effective body of 12 members who will hold KCC to account.

He is right to ask how the changes Reform UK claims it make will be achieved and he is all ears over its plans to pay for adult social care, the biggest drain on the KCC purse serving a tiny proportion of the population.

Reform UK has sent a message out loud and clear today and the people have most definitely spoken.

While they might celebrate tonight with their triumphant leader Nigel Farage, the hard work really does start tomorrow.