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Kent County Council
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Kent County Council
Kent County Council (KCC) is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the unitary authority of Medway. Kent County Council is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 81 elected councillors. It is one of the largest local authorities in England in terms of population served and the largest local authority of its type.[better source needed] The council is based at County Hall in Maidstone. The council has been under Reform UK majority control since 2025.
Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888. In Kent the administrative county differed from the historic county.
After the first elections to the county council in January 1889 and after county aldermen had been appointed, the council formally came into being on 1 April 1889, on which day it held its first official meeting at the Sessions House in Maidstone. With Lord Brabourne in the chair, Sir John Farnaby Lennard, 1st Baronet, was elected as the first chairman of the council.
The county council's duties at first were few, but gradually it absorbed school boards, the rural highway boards and the boards of guardians. The county council adopted the Sessions House as its meeting place.
In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 abolished the existing county of London and replaced it with a larger administrative area called Greater London, which took over the Bexley and Bromley areas from the administrative county of Kent. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 saw Kent re-classified as a non-metropolitan county and it gained the formerly independent county borough of Canterbury. Until 1974 the lower tier of local government had comprised numerous boroughs, urban districts and rural districts. As part of the 1974 reforms, the lower tier was reorganised into fourteen non-metropolitan districts.
In 1998 the districts of Gillingham and Rochester-upon-Medway were removed from the non-metropolitan county of Kent to become a new unitary authority called Medway, whilst remaining part of the ceremonial county of Kent.
In December 2024, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner announced proposals for local government reorganisation (LGR).[citation needed] In February 2026, KCC and Medway Council encouraged Kent's almost two million residents to respond to an LGR consultation which will see all 14 existing councils abolished and replaced by a smaller number of larger unitary authorities, with a three or four council set-up the likely outcome.
In the 2025 Kent County Council election, Reform UK won outright control of the council and Linden Kemkaran was elected leader. After being elected she said “we will simply put the people of Kent at the heart of everything we do”.
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Kent County Council
Kent County Council (KCC) is a county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Kent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the unitary authority of Medway. Kent County Council is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 81 elected councillors. It is one of the largest local authorities in England in terms of population served and the largest local authority of its type.[better source needed] The council is based at County Hall in Maidstone. The council has been under Reform UK majority control since 2025.
Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888. In Kent the administrative county differed from the historic county.
After the first elections to the county council in January 1889 and after county aldermen had been appointed, the council formally came into being on 1 April 1889, on which day it held its first official meeting at the Sessions House in Maidstone. With Lord Brabourne in the chair, Sir John Farnaby Lennard, 1st Baronet, was elected as the first chairman of the council.
The county council's duties at first were few, but gradually it absorbed school boards, the rural highway boards and the boards of guardians. The county council adopted the Sessions House as its meeting place.
In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 abolished the existing county of London and replaced it with a larger administrative area called Greater London, which took over the Bexley and Bromley areas from the administrative county of Kent. In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 saw Kent re-classified as a non-metropolitan county and it gained the formerly independent county borough of Canterbury. Until 1974 the lower tier of local government had comprised numerous boroughs, urban districts and rural districts. As part of the 1974 reforms, the lower tier was reorganised into fourteen non-metropolitan districts.
In 1998 the districts of Gillingham and Rochester-upon-Medway were removed from the non-metropolitan county of Kent to become a new unitary authority called Medway, whilst remaining part of the ceremonial county of Kent.
In December 2024, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner announced proposals for local government reorganisation (LGR).[citation needed] In February 2026, KCC and Medway Council encouraged Kent's almost two million residents to respond to an LGR consultation which will see all 14 existing councils abolished and replaced by a smaller number of larger unitary authorities, with a three or four council set-up the likely outcome.
In the 2025 Kent County Council election, Reform UK won outright control of the council and Linden Kemkaran was elected leader. After being elected she said “we will simply put the people of Kent at the heart of everything we do”.
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