County council Conservatives have been accused of using potholes as a “blatant electioneering” tool in the run-up to July 4.
One parliamentary candidate said the ruling Tories were trying to sway voters by announcing a “Pothole Blitz” over the summer.
Kent County Council (KCC) published a press release on May 24, two days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced he was going to the country.
Liberal Democrat David Naghi, who is standing against Helen Grant in the Maidstone and Malling constituency at the general election, was “incensed” by the press release.
He said: “Potholes are in the top three things people are bringing up on the doorstep at the general election, yet the Tories who run KCC seem to be giving their candidates a helping hand on the issue.
“It is absolutely blatant electioneering. Any announcements during the six weeks that might be construed as political or campaigning should have been put on hold.
“I think people will be as incensed as I am. They see the state of the roads and they are angry about the fact the roads are degrading and it is KCC’s responsibility to deal with it.
“But they should not be sending out a press release which contains no new information at a time of a general election being called. They could carry on the work and put out the release later.”
KCC figures for January to April 2024 show reported potholes standing at 18,853, compared to 21,593 in the same period last year.
The press notice states: “Following the announcement in March 2024 that KCC received additional funding of £8.6 million from the Department for Transport (DfT), crews have been out repairing medium to large-scale defects on the county’s roads, helping to keep Kent moving.
“With over 18,000 reported potholes across the county last year, this is a significant task to tackle. Highways teams have been identifying and planning the works, ensuring they are fully coordinated across the county and spread equally over several months to minimise disruption and impact to road users.”
The release also quotes the KCC cabinet member for highways, Cllr Neil Baker, who said the timings were “coincidental”.
He said: “That particular release was in the pipeline long before the general election was announced.
“General election or no general election, we still have to fix the potholes. The timing of the election was entirely coincidental.”
In the press release, Cllr Baker said: ““There’s no denying that there’s a substantial amount of work for our highways teams to tackle, but they’ve already made significant progress with the Pothole Blitz programme thanks to their diligent planning and specialist equipment.
‘We know this can be inconvenient to road users, so we appreciate residents being patient while crews make improvements on our roads. It’s safe to say: we’re on it.”
The recorded pothole numbers are sometimes bolstered artificially by double or multiple reporting of the same location.
But there is also a greater public understanding that marked hollows mean they are going to be dealt with.
According to the government’s website, the official pre-election period did not start until May 25.
The country enters a period of sensitivity, once known as purdah, around “making announcements or decisions that might have an effect on the election campaign”.
KCC Labour member Cllr Barry Lewis said: “If the KCC Tories think they are doing a good job on potholes, then I would hate to what a bad job would look like. They are clearly divorced from reality.”
