Tory leader says party can win Kent election

KentOnline / KMTV

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has made her second visit to Kent in six weeks, declaring her party can cling onto power at the county council elections on May 1.

Transcript

00:00Flowers might be blossoming on this Sevenoaks farm this morning, but is there a spring in

00:05Kemi-Badenhock's step ahead of next week's election?

00:09She'll be hoping to swing those photos lost at last year's general election back to the

00:14Conservatives.

00:15These are exactly the sorts of ideas that we want to get, we just want to start fresh

00:20rather than just building on.

00:22But a new party entering the political field could throw those plans into chaos.

00:28How scared are you of Reform UK's prospects in Kent?

00:32I'm not scared of anything.

00:34This is a very competitive political environment.

00:37Every party is a threat, and what I've said is that we win by making sure that we have

00:41the best and most compelling offer, and that's what I'm working on.

00:44And Kemi, what will voters get in return if the Conservatives are re-elected to County

00:50Council next week, particularly after years of cutbacks to discretionary services?

00:56We have been living in a very challenging economic environment, and what I tell people is that

01:01even within those circumstances, the Conservative councils are the ones that have been delivering.

01:06I'm not saying it's been easy, but you only need to look at Birmingham, where they've

01:09gone bankrupt, where people paid council tax and yet their rubbish wasn't picked up, rats

01:14are running all around the streets.

01:16That's what you get when you treat local government elections like an opinion pool.

01:19You need to look at who's going to get you the best services.

01:22The Tories have held Kent County Council for most of its history, aside from a brief spell

01:27in the 1990s.

01:29It should be a stronghold, but is it still?

01:33This is what voters in Sevenoaks think.

01:35They do better than Labour, do better than the Dems, and I don't trust reform because they

01:41seem to be very disjointed at the moment.

01:44As a young party, they've had no experience of any kind of leadership.

01:50Politicians now are in it for a career rather than actually wanting to serve people, and

01:56they're absolutely in it for themselves.

01:58Not particularly, but I don't trust any of the parties that much.

02:03Back on the farm, the party's hoping its stance on inheritance tax will herd support its way.

02:09But at County Council level, they'll have little influence on that, but rather potholes,

02:14adult social care and children with special educational needs.

02:18With little more than a week till polling day, Kenny Badenock will be hoping the Conservatives

02:24retain control of Kent County Council.

02:27Polling so far hasn't been good, but will the grass be greener on the other side?

02:32Gabriel Morris, near Sevenoaks.

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