Reform has been branded “delicate easily offended snowflakes” over the decision not to fly a Pride flag this summer.

At the beginning of May, Reform swept to a local elections victory in Kent, taking 57 of 81 council seats, wiping out a Conservative majority which had stood for almost 30 years.

Today (May 22), councillors heard from the new leader of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran, at their annual general meeting at County Hall in Maidstone.

She told the chamber: “The Union Jack, the flag of St George, and the flag of Kent, they are the identity that we all share, and it is that identity that we need to focus on.

“We are here to unite, not divide, and that’s why we don’t have much time for special interest groups and flags that represent special interest groups.”

But this evening, Mike Tapp, Labour MP for Dover and Deal, meted out a strong public reaction to the news.

He wrote on X: “We know why (Reform) don’t want the Ukraine flags up, to not offend Farage’s mate, Putin.

“But why are Reform so petrified of flags that celebrate our LGBTQ communities?

“Weird behaviour from a bunch of delicate, easily offended, snowflakes.”

Mr Farage has in the past said that Russian president Vladimir Putin was the world leader he admired the most.

However, these comments were made more than a decade ago.

Reform has been approached for comment.

In late March 2014, GQ Magazine published parts of an interview with Mr Farage, who was then the leader of Ukip.

Responding to a question about the current world leader he admires the most, Mr Farage said: “As an operator, but not as a human being, I would say Putin.

“The way he played the whole Syria thing. Brilliant. Not that I approve of him politically.”

Today, in the council chamber, Ms Kemkaran’s words were met with raucous applause and table thumping from the Reform benches, likened to a “political rally” by the council’s opposition leader, Liberal Democrat Antony Hook.

Speaking outside the chamber, he said: “It was really shocking to me that in a recent podcast, the leader of Reform said that she had to sort of take instructions from Reform’s national chairman.

“That’s the sort of thing we’ve never heard at Kent County Council before.

“Under different administrations, it’s always been clear that policy is made in Kent by county councillors, not taking instructions from national parties.”

Before the meeting, Ms Kemkaran told the PA news agency: “My focus will be on examining every single so-called net zero initiative and seeing whether it does really offer value for money or any benefits for the residents of Kent, and if we find that it doesn’t, then it will be scrapped.

“The people of Kent turned out in their thousands to vote for us because they didn’t want the same old people doing the same old things and achieving the same old results.”

The new Reform-led council is yet to announce which committees are to be kept from previous Conservative administrations.

Ms Kemkaran has been contacted for comment regarding Mr Tapp’s recent Tweet.