Linden Kemkaran

Councillor
Linden Kemkaran
Leader of Kent County Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 2025
Preceded byRoger Gough
Councillor for Maidstone South East
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 May 2025
Leader of Reform UK on Kent County Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 2025
Personal details
PartyReform UK
Other political
affiliations		Conservative (previously)
Alma materUniversity of Surrey

Linden Mary Kemkaran (born 1970) is a British politician from Reform UK.[1] She has been the leader of Kent County Council since May 2025.

Biography

Kemkaran was born in Dartford to an Indo-Trinidadian father and an English mother from Waltham Cross.[2] Kemkaran previously worked for BBC News in a number of roles.[3] She attended the University of Surrey.[3] She has written articles for The Spectator.[4]

Before joining Reform UK, she was a member of the Conservative Party. In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, she was shortlisted for selection in Orpington but was not selected.[5] She stood in Bradford East but came second behind incumbent Imran Hussain.[6] Following the election, she was investigated by the party for "Islamophobic retweets".[7][8] During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was involved in the Invicta Summer Academy.[9]

Leadership of Kent County Council

The 2025 UK local elections were held on 1 May 2025,[10] with the Kent County Council election seeing all 81 seats up for election.[11] Kemkaran stood as the Reform UK candidate for the Maidstone South East division, winning the seat with a 51.3% majority, on a voter turnout of 23.2%.[12][13] The wider election saw Reform win outright control of the council for the first time, taking 57 of the council's 81 seats, ending almost 30 years on Conservative council control.[14] Despite never having previously served as a councillor, on 8 May, Kemkaran was chosen by Reform UK to be the next leader of Kent County Council.[15][16]

After being elected, Kemkaran said "we will simply put the people of Kent at the heart of everything we do".[17] One key policy is a new cabinet role inspired by the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as promoted by Elon Musk.[18] The council will not fly the rainbow flag for Pride Month.[19] She said she saw having a Ukrainian flag in the council chamber as a "distraction".[20] She also said she intends to reduce the impact of illegal migration on residents in Kent.[21]

On 18 October 2025, The Guardian newspaper released video footage of a Kent County Council Reform group online meeting where Kemkaran berated members by shouting and swearing at some of her colleagues after they criticised what they saw as her failure to involve backbench councillors in her decision-making as regards local government reform, and threatened to mute one councillor for asking a question.[22] In response, Kemkaran described the leak as an act of "treachery", calling those responsible as "weak" and "cowards",[23] and announced a hunt to find those who leaked the video.[24] On 20 October, four councillors were suspended from the Reform party group.[25][26][27] The controversy provoked 7 MPs with constituencies in Kent to write a letter to the Reform party leader Nigel Farage, describing the council as "ridden with chaos and in-fighting", calling for Kemkaran's replacement.[28] On 22 October, Kemkaran called on her fellow Reform councillors to sign a statement of support,[29] pledging their "full confidence in [their] leader, Cllr Linden Kemkaran", with the statement describing her as leading "the council with courage, integrity and discipline.”[30] Between 25–27 October, 5 councillors on the Kent County Council were expelled from the Reform party.[31][32][33] The suspensions and expulsions since video footage of the council group meeting was published, combined with previous defections or suspensions of Reform UK council members,[34][35] meant that under Kemkaran's leadership of Kent County Council, the number of Reform UK councillors fell from 57 councillors after the 1 May 2025 election, to 48 councillors as of 28 October 2025.[36][37]

Views

Kemkaran is a supporter of grammar schools, which still exist throughout Kent.[38] She supports government intervention in the debate over mobile phones in schools, but short of a ban.[39]

Personal life

Kemkaran is of mixed race descent.[40]

References

  1. ^ "Linden Mary Kemkaran - Candidate for Maidstone South East in Kent local election". Democracy Club Candidates. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  2. ^ Kemkaran, Linden (7 November 2018). "What's the problem with Anthony Ekundayo Lennon identifying as black?". The Spectator. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b ""Best Choice"". West Kent Radio | 95.5, 106.7 & 107.2 FM. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  4. ^ "Linden Kemkaran, Author at The Spectator". The Spectator. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  5. ^ Wallace, Mark (7 November 2019). "New candidate shortlists for Tory-held seats: Orpington; Bracknell; South West Hertfordshire; and Mid Sussex". Conservative Home. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  6. ^ "General election 2019: Tories investigate candidate over alleged Islamophobia". BBC News. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Tory candidate shared Islamophobic message claiming Muslims have 'nasty culture'". The Independent. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Conservative Party to investigate Parliamentary candidate's 'nasty culture' retweets". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  9. ^ Kemkaran, Linden (30 July 2020). "Linden Kemkaran: How our pop-up Summer Academy is providing what most schools didn't during lockdown". Conservative Home. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Badenoch warns Tories of difficult local elections". BBC News. 20 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Election timetable in England". Electoral Commission. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Election timetable in England". Electoral Commission. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Councillor details - Linden Kemkaran". democracy.kent.gov.uk. 3 June 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  14. ^ Maisner, Stuart (2 May 2025). "Reform wins control in Kent after Tory wipeout". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  15. ^ Finlay, Simon (8 May 2025). "Linden Kemkaran elected as Reform UK's new Kent County Council leader". Kent Online. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  16. ^ "Reform UK councillors select new leader at Kent County Council". BBC News. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  17. ^ ""We will simply put the people of Kent at the heart of everything we do" - Leader's first speech at County Hall". news.kent.gov.uk. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  18. ^ "Reform UK take control of Kent County Council with new cabinet". BBC News. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  19. ^ Murphy-Johns, Stanley (22 May 2025). "New Reform-led council will remove Pride and Ukrainian flags". The Standard. Archived from the original on 3 June 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Reform UK councillors select new leader at Kent County Council". BBC News. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  21. ^ "I'll confront impact of migrants - new Kent leader". BBC News. 11 May 2025. Archived from the original on 31 May 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  22. ^ Quinn, Ben (2025). "'Suck it up': leaked video exposes bitter infighting at Reform UK's flagship Kent council". The Guardian. No. 18 October 2025. Guardian News & Media Limited.
  23. ^ Finlay, Simon (19 October 2025). "Reform UK Kent council leader reports video leak 'cowards'". BBC News. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  24. ^ Quinn, Ben (19 October 2025). "Reform council leader says she has launched hunt for 'cowards' behind leaked video". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  25. ^ Williams, Jennifer (20 October 2025). "Reform UK suspends four Kent councillors after leaked video". Financial Times.
  26. ^ Quinn, Ben (20 October 2025). "Reform suspends four Kent councillors after Guardian publishes leaked video of fierce infighting". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  27. ^ Cecil, Nicholas; Murphy-Johns, Stanley (20 October 2025). "Four Reform councillors suspended in Farage's flagship council after row with leader". The Standard. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  28. ^ "Quit now, MPs tell KCC leader". Kent Online. 20 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  29. ^ Askew, Joshua; Finlay, Simon (22 October 2025). "Embattled Reform UK council leader calls for backing". BBC News. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  30. ^ "Council leader pleads for support after video leak". Kent Online. 21 October 2025. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  31. ^ "Two suspended Reform UK county councillors booted out of party". Kent Online. 25 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  32. ^ "Reform expels three more councillors for 'dishonest and deceptive' behaviour". Kent Online. 27 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  33. ^ "Five Reform UK councillors booted out of party in Kent". BBC News. 27 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  34. ^ "Reform Kent county councillor in shock defection to Ukip". Kent Online. 8 September 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  35. ^ "Suspended Reform councillor to stand trial over 'threats to kill wife'". Kent Online. 22 August 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  36. ^ Adu, Aletha (27 October 2025). "Reform UK expels two Kent councillors accused of 'undermining' its interests". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  37. ^ "Reform UK council leader calls expulsions 'a sorry state of affairs'". BBC News. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  38. ^ Kemkaran, Linden (26 October 2017). "Critics of grammar schools are wrong". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  39. ^ Kemkaran, Linden (5 February 2024). "Linden Kemkaran: Why urgent Government intervention is needed on children and smartphones - but not a ban". Conservative Home. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  40. ^ Kemkaran, Linden (27 November 2017). "A mixed-race princess is just what the Royal family needs". The Spectator. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
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