Careful, Jeremy – Ed’s soapbox was start of his slippery slope

So, with the county council election campaign in full swing, are we likely to see a wave of party leaders heading down to the Garden of England? Will Jeremy Corbyn be making his way to Kent to drum up support and put his shoulder to the political wheel? After all, his predecessor, Ed Miliband, did, back in 2010 – soap box and all.

Off The Record suspects the chances are slim, but you never know. If he does, he’d probably head to Thanet rather than Tunbridge Wells.

As to Ukip, we hear rumours that separate visits by leader Paul Nuttall and former leader Nigel Farage are pencilled in.

Again, they will be taking the route to Thanet, where the party is defending seven out of eight seats.

One leader who could well be popping down is the Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, with his party talking up their prospects.

The party will be hoping that if he does, he has the reverse effect of his predecessor Nick Clegg in the general election. Mr Clegg pitched up in Maidstone – at a vineyard – just days before the poll, when the party was harbouring hopes of causing an upset in the constituency.

We all know what happened next. The Conservatives won handsomely.

As if Labour did not have enough problems, the Kent County Council election is proving more challenging thanks to boundary changes in some divisions, which have seen some of its strongholds under threat from the Conservatives.

Among them is the Labour group leader Gordon Cowan, whose Dover Town seat is far more marginal than it was.

The intervention of Lord Howard – the former Folkestone and Hythe MP – in the Brexit debate prompted a rash of headlines about the country going to war with Spain.

We are sure that wasn’t the intention but the former party leader remains an astute operator who has always measured his words carefully.

Did he know that his comments would cause such a stir? Quite probably.

Election manifestos can make for dreary reading and are generally full of the kind of pledges that supporters of any party would find it hard not to sign up to.

Fear of being radical makes far too many fall back on the kind of bland policy priorities that seem designed not to frighten young children and animals.

The Green Party at least has a couple of eye-catching commitments, whether you agree with them or not.

Its manifesto advocates a scheme for solar panels to be installed over car parks and argues for a Northern Irelandstyle regional assembly for the county.

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