The Green Party have won a Kent County Council seat off Reform in an impressive by-election victory.
Green candidate Rob Yates won the seat in Cliftonville, Thanet, with 2,068 votes, making up 39% of the vote, ahead of Reform’s Marc Rattigan, who got 1,767 votes, making up 33%.
The by-election was triggered after the jailing of ex-Reform UK councillor Daniel Taylor, who was given a 12 month sentence in February for controlling and coercive behaviour towards his wife.
Speaking after his win, Yates, an offshore wind farmer, said: “This result shows that across Kent and across the country the Greens are the antidote to Reform.
“Twelve years ago Nigel Farage was parading down Cliftonville high street, and now we have turned it green.
“There is a huge appetite here to live with a politics of hope, empathy and local action, rather than a politics of division.”
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The result was celebrated by party leader Zack Polanski as well, who said it was proof that “Greens can win anywhere” ahead of May’s local elections.
The by-election had been Reform’s first electoral test in Kent after winning control of the council at last year’s local elections.
Then, Reform won 57 out of 81 seats on England’s largest local authority. However, after a string of suspensions and defections – plus this week’s by-election defeat – they now have just 47 seats on the council.
This means that if Reform lose just six more seats, they will lose overall control of the council.
Let’s not forget that following their comprehensive victory in the 2025 Local Elections, Reform were content use their control of Kent County Council as a litmus test for their ability to govern.