Arm’s length visit after PM’S battle bus arrival

While Boris Johnson did make it to Kent during the election campaign, it was not a visit that involved much contact - well, hardly any - with the public.

He pitched up in a battle bus to be met by party activists and supporters and delivered a pithy speech in which the words “get Brexit done” featured rather heavily.

There was then the big reveal of a poster warning that anything other than a Conservative government would keep the country in neutral. After a round of interviews with the media at Maidstone’s Event Centre, he was off for a meet-and-greet in Rochester but details of the visit were made public before an embargo, with the result that a large crowd of protesters arrived at the rendezvous point. The result? It was cancelled. n The PM’S visit was hosted by the Conservative candidate for Faversham and Mid Kent, Helen Whately, who was sporting a top with the slogan “Good Times

Ahead” emblazoned on the front. No, it wasn’t official Conservative merchandise… n While the BBC 1 Leaders Debate was going on in the Maidstone Studio, journalists were kept in an adjoining studio dubbed “The Spin Room”. There was a distinct end-ofterm mood, with the pundits who had been to every one of the debates clearly feeling they had seen and heard enough. One well-known broadcaster was heard to say they were “not enamoured of Maidstone

- it is one long traffic jam”. Off The Record was caught up in the same congestion and can attest to the bit about the amount of traffic on the surrounding roads. n Interested in how the parties will fare in the election? KMTV will be hosting an Election Special covering all the Kent counts live. We will also be streaming a KMTV election special from 10pm.

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