Voters turned against the leader of Maidstone Borough Council Chris Garland at the county elections.

Cllr Garland (Con) was trying to add the Maidstone South Division to his borough council seat of Shepway North, but was defeated at the polls by the Loose sub-poster master Brian Clark (pictured) standing for the Lib Dems.

The seat had previously been held for the Tories by Alan Chell.

It was the only seat to change hands in the Maidstone borough area. Elsewhere the sitting candidates were all returned.

However, the results hid a significant change in voting patterns, with a surge in support for UKIP. Although they failed to win a seat in Maidstone, UKIP were second in every division where they fielded a candidate.

The rise was sufficient to make Hugh Robertson, the Conservative Minister for Sport and the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, to tell the Kent Messenger: "Their vote is too large to be considered just a protest vote. Something fundamental is happening. We (the Government) will be sitting down at the weekend to analyse just what these results mean."

Cllr Paul Carter, the Tory leader of Kent County Council, was in no doubt about the cause of the problems.

He said: "I’m not surprised by the growth of UKIP. This coalition Government is behaving more like the Liberal Democrats than like a Conservative Party."

But he was not totally dismayed at the prospect of having some UKIP councillors in County Hall.

He said: "I’d rather have an honest UKIP candidate than a Liberal Democrat. Some of their policies are quite close to my heart."

Cllr Carter, who at the start of the count, said he would be happy if the Tories returned "north of 50" councillors - out of 84 seats, was looking happier as the day wore on, and more and more of the map of Kent turned to its traditional Tory blue.

He said: "It’s a relief."