This week’s Kent Politics Podcast welcomes the former deputy leader of Medway’s Conservatives.

Elizabeth Turpin sensationally quit the party last month after becoming disillusioned with colleagues at local and national level.

She explains how she came to this “difficult” decision and talks about her future aims.

The councillor also reflects on the state of politics and the inability of rivals to work together – including the negatives of social media.

The episode also sees our reporters discuss how Kent County Council might have been breaking its own road closure rules, and how river pollution in Medway is causing a stink.

We have the latest on Canterbury’s Local Plan, while political editor Paul Francis bring us his weekly Westminster Watch round-up.

The podcast, which launched in January, brings together local democracy reporters, Simon Finlay, Robert Boddy, Dan Esson.

Simon covers Kent County Council while Robert reports on Medway Council and Dan specialises in borough and district councils.

Next week we’ll be joined by Dartford council leader Cllr Jeremy Kite to talk about the challenges of running his borough and thoughts on national and local issues.

You can listen to the podcast at IM Listening, or download it from Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and TuneIn – just search for Kent Politics Podcast.

New episodes are available each Friday.

The podcast is the latest move to increase KentOnline’s political coverage ahead of a general election likely to be held later this year.

In recent months we also launched bespoke sections on KentOnline highlighting Kent Politics and Medway Politics.

Added to this is the highly-respected Kent Politics Show which airs on KMTV each Friday evening