Eight new leaders, soaring support for other parties and more rainbow coalitions – the aftermath of the council elections has changed the political landscape in Kent in ways thought unimaginable. Here, KentOnline political editor Paul Francis explains what it all means...

Most elections spring a surprise or two but the results in the council polls were beyond the expectations of many and confounded those who thought the Conservatives might suffer some modest losses.

In Kent, dozens of Tory councillors watched grimly as votes piled up for their opponents and they endured the nightmare of every politician – being formally told they had lost.

Elections, particularly local council ones, are traditionally used to give the government of the day a bloody nose - and bloody it was. But was there something different this time? Does Kent’s reputation as a true blue heartland need to be re-evaluated? Or has it simply been a case of the party in office getting the mid-term blues and normal service being resumed next time these elections are held?

Here’s the five things we can take from the results

1. The Green Party might have been characterised as cranks many years ago but they have established themselves as a credible fighting force. The party has control of its first council in Kent - Folkestone and Hythe - and now has 47 elected councillors from just two in 2018. But let’s not get too carried away; the real test is how the party fares when it comes to defending its seats.

2. It was a chastening result for the Conservatives, reminiscent of the county council election in 2013 when it became perilously close to losing control to Ukip. It bounced back, of course, but seems to have lost its way a little. And it now has to deal with another enemy on its flanks - the Green party. It will survive but having delivered Brexit, isn’t sure what to do next.

3. Labour did well - in some areas. Taking control of Medway for the first time, nabbing Dover and Thanet - all results to savour. The challenge is, however, to be in a position where voters are prepared to switch from another party in a way that we haven’t seen since the Blair era. Opinion polls are not yet showing a decisive view about Sir Keir Starmer and while Rishi Sunak has managed to steady the ship, the political waters remain choppy.

4. All parties have one issue to confront: housing development and finding a way to balance the need for more affordable homes while protecting the Kent countryside from bulldozers. It’s the single issue that featured on the doorstep and it’s not just the scale of house-building but where and how the necessary infrastructure - roads, schools, GPs - is going to be provided.

5. All the signs are that the economy and the cost-of-living crisis will not have disappeared by the time we go to the polls in a general election. Who has the most credible programme for dealing with it will determine who gets the keys to Downing Street.