Reform UK has suffered a serious defeat in a Kent County Council by-election in what had been a safe Reform seat less than a year ago.
The contest, in Cliftonville, Margate, was triggered by the jailing of Daniel Taylor, who had won the division for Reform last May as part of the party’s landslide at County Hall, where it took 57 of 81 seats.
Coercive behaviour
But Taylor was later jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour towards his wife.
He had been suspended from Reform following his arrest the previous summer and was formally expelled from the party when he entered his guilty plea in January.
Green Party candidate Rob Yates took the seat in the by election with 2,068 votes, ahead of Reform’s Marc Rattigan on 1,767.
The result was Reform’s first by-election test since their KCC landslide and it is a humiliation. The swing to the Greens was 26.7 points, with Reform’s vote share falling by seven points compared to 2025.
The party has now expelled seven councillors and suffered two defections since May 2025, leaving it with 47 seats.
KCC leader Linden Kemkaran left the count without comment.
