The Liberal Democrats face a long struggle to recover in Kent despite the progress the party made in recent council elections, according to a leading party figure.

Jasper Gerard, who contested Maidstone and Weald in the general election last year, said the party had some grounds for optimism but acknowledged it had a long way to go to restore its fortunes.

Speaking on the latest edition of KMTV’s “Paul On Politics” he said: “I’m not going to make out that we are completely back and everything is fantastic for us.

PAUL ON POLITICS: Joining Paul on the red sofa this week is Professor Tim Luckhurst and Lib Dem candidate for Maidstone and The Weald in 2015 Jasper Gerard to discuss whether there's any future for the Liberal Democrats in Kent, as well as the planned reforms of the BBC.

"We were thumped at the general election, there is no point disguising that. But look at what has happened since - our membership has doubled."

He added: “It’s a long struggle, I totally accept that - I am not for one minute trying to say we will get back to where we were.”

He said the party had the chance to move into the centre ground as Labour moved to the left and the Conservative party went to the right.

“There is a large area of centre ground which did look very crowded at the election but suddenly looks an empty space for us to populate.”

“The interesting thing is whether in five years time, we see some realignment in politics. Do sensible people in Labour want to be led by Jeremy Corbyn and do some reasonable people in the Conservative party want to be in with some of these headbangers?”

But Professor Tim Luckhurst of the Centre for Journalism at the University of Kent, told the programme:

“If the Liberal Democrat’s strategy for recovery is based on the assumption that the Labour party is led by Jeremy Corbyn at the general election, it is fatally flawed.”

“Yes, the Liberal Democrats have made baby steps forward on Maidstone council...but they are in real difficulty nationally.”

The programme also considered the impact of the government's proposals to reform the BBC.