Lettings agency owner Maxine Fothergill (main picture) has joined the new political party, Restore Britain after being expelled by Reform UK following disagreements over the running of Kent County Council.
Fothergill, who is also Managing Director of Amax Estates and former President of ARLA Propertymark, had been a Reform UK member for six years. In 2024, she stood as a parliamentary candidate for Old Bexley and Sidcup and was later elected to Kent County Council.
If you can’t run a council, you can’t run a Government.”
Speaking exclusively to The Neg, she says tensions built after she raised concerns about the management style of leader Linden Kemkaran and how the council was being run. She says decision-making was top-down, that councillors’ views were not being respected and that there was a lack of experience among those in charge. “If you can’t run a council,” she says, “you can’t run a Government.”
The situation came to a head when she and six other councillors were accused of leaking a recording of an internal online meeting. With Reform’s handling of the levers of power already under scrutiny by the media, the dispute attracted national attention, and the seven councillors were expelled. Fothergill and her colleagues, however, deny any wrongdoing.
It was after that that she was approached by Restore Britain. The party was launched by Rupert Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, who was himself a former Reform member.
Westminster bubble
Fothergill says she agreed to join because, unlike Reform, she believes Restore will not eventually be sucked into the “Westminster bubble”. Instead, she says, Restore places more emphasis on respect for individuals and independent thinking, putting British people first, while encouraging entrepreneurs, supporting small businesses and promoting homeownership and reduced bureaucracy.
According to Fothergill, “Restore has a kinder face, and I’m proud to be part of the beginning of its journey.” She adds that the party has already gained 90,000 members in its first 13 days.
Alongside her political activities, Fothergill continues to run Kent-based lettings agency Amax Estates, but only needs to be in the office one or two days a week because, she says, “if you give experienced staff the autonomy to make their own decisions, it all runs far more smoothly.”
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