county councils set up by an by Local Government Act in 1888 for history see E. Melling, The History of Kent County Council 1889-1974, Maidstone 1975.

It comprises 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors.

The Local Government Act 1888 created an administrative county of Kent, with its own county council, in 1889. At the same time the northwestern extremities of the historic county of Kent came under the County of London, while Canterbury became a separate county borough with powers similar to that of a county.The London Government Act 1963 created an enlarged Greater London, established in 1965, which took in more of northwestern Kent. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished the previous structure of local government as from 1974. Kent became a non-metropolitan county, divided into districts, including a new City of Canterbury, which combined the former county borough (now abolished) with other areas to form a single district under the county council.