All the dark clouds have silver linings galore

With another round of budget cuts running into millions and the loss of between 300 to 400 jobs, you’d expect there to be a bit of a gloomy atmosphere around at County Hall.

We’ve had dire warnings of financial armageddon from Maidstone HQ for several years now, but each time the council somehow manages, Houdinilike, to escape at the last minute and balance the books.

What is behind this oddly-optimistic spirit? We’re not entirely sure but despite the black clouds gathering on the horizon, the council’s PR department did its bit by issuing a North Korean-style press release headlined Positive Outlook As KCC Sets Out Challenging Budget Plans.

Before getting into the grisly detail, it added: “Kent County Council is continuing to make Kent a great place to live and work, making a positive contribution to residents’ everyday lives.”

Let’s hear it for the Liberal Democrats, a party for whom the epithet “plucky” might have been invented.

The party came in fourth in the recent Swanley county council by-election but is focusing on the positive side of things – which in this case is that its share of the vote went up by a not insignificant 16%. From little acorns...

Kent crime commissioner Matthew Scott has, perhaps sensibly, kept a relatively low profile, but is anxious that we know as much as we can about his activities.

To help, he writes a blog about his visits and meetings across the county but it seems he is concerned whether anyone is actually reading them.

In early September, he wrote: “I hope that you are finding these weekly updates useful and informative about my work.”

A fortnight later, he sought a little more reassurance, opening his latest entry by asking: “I hope that you are finding these reports I write on a weekly basis useful.” We are Matthew, we are. You never know what Ukip will do next but if the latest twists and turns within the party are anything to go by, they could soon be running short of candidates to contest a leadership battle.

As Steven Woolfe departs the party, might it open the door to a bid by the Ukip’s Thanet District Council leader Chris Wells to enter the race?

He has already hinted he might but wouldn’t if Mr Woolfe put his name forward.

Now he has gone, the notion might not be quite so fanciful. The idea is, he tells Off The Record, still “very much in his thoughts”.

That’ll be a yes, then.

Follow Paul on Twitter at @ Paulonpolitics for all Kent’s political gossip and news.