Tory leader Theresa May is facing fresh calls from local party chiefs in the county to resign in the wake of a humiliating defeat in council elections.

The party lost more than 70 councillors in Kent, including three leaders of borough councils in a dismal performance that has renewed pressure on the Prime Minister to stand aside.

It has emerged several constituency associations in Kent turned down the offer by the national party to help their campaign, fearing the presence of ministers and senior Conservative figures on the doorstep would further have damaged their prospects.

Paul Cooper, the chairman of the Faversham and Mid Kent Conservative Association, said: “It is no surprise that we did so badly.

"We have a completely incompetent administration and in fact it is so incompetent that it makes Gordon Brown looks slick."

Speaking on KMTV's “Paul On Politics” show, he said: “Everything that is going on is symptomatic of poor leadership. People are angry about what is going on at a national level and they have shown it at the ballot box.

"Had better leadership been shown we might have got somewhere. Let's be perfectly frank here: we have failed to deliver Brexit and we have failed to unite the country.”

And one of the county’s MPs has joined those calling for her to quit. South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay said there was no prospect of Brexit being delivered under her leadership.

“What do we do about it? The only thing left is a no-deal Brexit; that is not going to happen under Theresa May by the looks of it and she has got to consider what she is doing to the party and whether she is more of a liability than an asset and the answer to that is yes, she is.”

He warned that a compromise deal with Labour would leave the party in an even worse situation.

"If there is attempt to try and get it through with Labour votes then I think that puts the party in an even worse situation.

"People are very unhappy with what is going on in Westminster and that is very unfortunate. It [new leader] would change the dynamic of how people feel; we could recover the dynamism that we have lost at Westminster; there is not really a domestic programme that anyone can put their finger on.

"It would give us a kickstart that we do need.”

Four constituency associations from Kent are among 70 who have called a special meeting to discuss a vote of no confidence in Mrs May.

The four are: Faversham and Mid Kent; Maidstone and The Weald; Canterbury and Gravesham.

Speaking before the election, Greig Baker, the chairman of the Canterbury Conservative Association, said: “Removing Theresa May has become like a trip to the dentist. It’s something that’s got to be done, and the longer you leave it the worse it will be.”

While many councils stayed Conservative, the party lost outright control of Swale and Folkestone and Hythe in an unexpected surge of support for the Green Party and lost control of Gravesham to Labour.

In total, the party lost 75 councillors across the county which included three former council leaders.