Reform UK's Vote for Political Assistants at KCC

By Kent County Councillor Tim Prater

At the Kent County Council meeting of 15 December, the Reform administration put a motion, supported by every one of their Councillors present, to appoint political assistants to Kent County Council, at an annual cost of around £150,000.

That's despite already having an in year projected overspend of £50 million, and no budget allocated this year. Any employment this year would be additional unbudgeted expense adding to that overspend. Every single non-Reform Councillor voted against, rightly.

Now, I utterly disagree with the decision, but accept that Reform legally can spend Council Taxpayers money on political assistants. However, it's really important that process is followed correctly, and another thing also really bothered me. They voted to create a new job role in the full and certain knowledge of who they were going to give the job to - Michael Hadwen.

That person was known to them, introduced to them before the meeting, and is friends with some. And yet that was not in any way put on the record. No-one declared an interest before voting for that job, despite knowing exactly who would be the recipient of that £49,000+ job. You can't make Council appointments on that basis, surely?

I have raised my concerns with the Council.

Below is video taken at the Kent CC Reform Group Meeting on 17/12/25. That's the day BEFORE every Reform member present voted to create the role of Political Assistants at Kent County Council, at a cost of around £150,000 per year to Kent taxpayers. It shows Kent County Council Reform Group Whip Maxwell Harrison introducing Michael Hadwen as their “new Political Assistant”.