On this week’s Kent Politics Podcast we welcome the Green Party’s Stuart Heaver.

The councillor represents Whitstable West on Kent County Council (KCC) and Gorrell ward on Canterbury City Council.

The former Royal Navy officer talks about how his anger with sea pollution led to his decision to enter politics.

And he reveals what it was like to attend his first KCC meeting surrounded by jubilant members of Reform UK.

Not a fan of token politics, he questions the ruling party’s decision to remove the Ukrainian flag from the council chamber.

But giving his opinion on why Reform did so well in Kent and across the country, he says public anger was noticeable.

While campaigning ahead of the local election, he says he was confronted with lots of unhappy people.

They were “hacked off” over the state of politics, and there was a feeling their concerns were not being listened to.

This was a theme highlighted on last week’s podcast by former KCC leader Roger Gough.

He explained there was a growing sense with the public that “nothing works anymore” and change was needed.

The team also talk about the impending release of Medway Council’s Local Plan and fears that industrial-scale dumping is getting out of hand.

The weekly podcast brings together Simon Finlay, Robert Boddy, and Dan Esson, of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Simon covers Kent County Council, while Robert reports on Medway Council and Dan specialises in borough and district councils.

Senior news editor Nikki White looks at what’s been happening with the county’s MPs in parliament in her Westminster Watch.

You can listen to the podcast at IM Listening, or download it from Apple Podcasts, Spotify and TuneIn – just search for Kent Politics Podcast.

Readers can also keep up-to-date with the latest political news on our dedicated Kent Politics page on KentOnline or sign up for our weekly politics newsletter.