The challenges for KCC are obvious: inflation, skyrocketing demand for child and adult social care and a budget that has, at times, seemed to be bursting at the seams.
Linden Kemkaran, the Reform UK leader at KCC, is bullish.
She says the party has already “done so much” for Kent residents, including making “millions” of pounds worth of efficiency savings.
Standing in the carpeted conference hall, decked out in the party’s trademark turquoise, Ms Kemkaran promises that “there’s so much more to come”.
During the local election campaign Reform UK made big promises: stop the boats, put an end to housing asylum seekers in Kent, eradicate potholes.
None of these promises have yet been fulfilled, and as Ms Kemkaran acknowledges, some of these pledges are not really in their control.
“Sadly none of those things are actually in my gift as a county councillor,” she said.
So why promise them?
The leader’s answer: “I think it’s what Reform will promise to do when we get into government.”
When asked if she has ever worried about the risk of overpromising during the election campaign, she responds with an emphatic “no”.
Far from shying away from making promises, Reform took the opportunity at the NEC to pledge big.
Perhaps most notably, the party vowed to stop the small boat arrivals on the Kent coast within two weeks of coming to power.
“I truly believe if anyone can do it, Nigel Farage will find a way to do it,” says Ms Kemkaran.
