On this week’s Kent Politics Podcast we discuss the local election results which saw Reform take control of KCC.

The Nigel Farage-led party took 57 of the 81 seats up for grabs, with the ruling Conservatives reduced to just five.

The special guest is Cllr Mike Baldock, who lost his Swale West seat to ex-UKIP colleague Richard Palmer.

The former is a member of the Swale Independents, while the latter is now a Reform county councillor.

Cllr Baldock, who is still a borough councillor, talks about how he became increasingly concerned he’d lose.

He says doorstep conversations were dominated by national issues and people’s dissatisfaction with the government.

This meant local issues got drowned out and people clearly saw voting Reform as a way to punish the establishment.

He also speaks about the difficulties the new leaders of KCC will have in managing an authority which has been cut to the bone.

He speculates that Reform could become very unpopular as it is going from a party of protest to being in charge with serious responsibilities.

The team also talk about parking permit problems in Medway and internal party trouble for Labour in Dover.

The weekly podcast brings together Simon Finlay, Robert Boddy and Dan Esson, of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Simon covers Kent County Council, while Robert reports on Medway Council and Dan specialises in borough and district councils.

They are joined by KM Group news editor Nikki White who looks at what’s happening with Kent and Medway’s MPs in Westminster.

You can listen to the podcast at IM Listening, or download it from Apple Podcasts, Spotify and TuneIn – just search for Kent Politics Podcast.

Readers can also keep up-to-date with the latest political news on our dedicated Kent Politics page on KentOnline or sign up for our weekly politics newsletter.