At least one trip hazard has been removed for county politicians

Visitors to the hallowed halls of Sessions House, the home of Kent County Council, might have noticed that the carpet fitters have been in.

The stairs leading to the council chamber and the area outside it have had a makeover in the form of a rather plush vibrant red carpet. Very nice it is too, even if the colour might be associated with Labour rather than the Conservatives.

We know what your asking and we are ahead of you. The cost? £11,324. Not an insignificant sum, but in the context of the authority’s huge £1.2bn budget, it could be argued rather modest. The former carpet was becoming rather threadbare and presented a “trip hazard” according to a Freedom of Information request.

With the former Maidstone and Weald MP Ann Widdecombe ensconced in the Celebrity Big Brother house, Off The Record has been left pondering whether the programme makers have tried to recruit the former Folkestone and Hythe MP Michael Howard to be a surprise guest.

The pair famously fell out in the Conservative Party leadership election of 1997 when Ann Widdecombe famously said of her rival that he had “something of the night” about him.

Ukip has had plenty of issues to deal with in the last two years and has often appeared rather rudderless and disorganised.

After the election of the Folkestone-based Henry Bolton as leader, the party seemed to have someone capable of uniting it and – as a former soldier and policeman – someone with the right skills to bring about a bit of discipline.

But the new leader has been left to fend off growing criticism after he left his wife and two young children for a glamour model from Maidstone less than half his age.

His critics are growing in number. They include the Shepway councillor Susie Govett, who was his press aide in the election campaign. She is deeply unimpressed and has posted a series of disapproving tweets.

He says it a private matter and won’t impact on his mission to reform the party. We shall see. Perhaps the only up-side is that at least Ukip is in the headlines again, albeit for the wrong reasons.

The saga of Mr Bolton’s private life handed the tabloid headline writers a gift. The Sun came up with “Phewkip!” but there was some translation issues in the international coverage. Our favourite? “Ukip Chief Henry Bolton Admits Leaving Spouse For Mannequin”.

The Prime Minister, never the most fluent of speakers, got in a bit of a tangle when she was interviewed on the Andrew Marr show about the state of the NHS.

“What we are operating on at the moment is the five-year forward view for the NHS which is the forward view that the NHS themselves came forward with,” she said. That’s all clear then. Follow Paul on Twitter @ Paulonpolitics for all Kent’s political news and analysis