They had promised to bring council tax down...
When Reform campaigned in the local elections last May, the party promised to cut local government ‘waste’ and to reduce council taxes for millions of residents up and down the country.
However, as is usually the case with populism, when rhetoric is met with a harsh dose of reality, it all begins to fall apart.
Far from reducing council taxes, Reform councils, after realising that local government funding has been cut to the bone by more than a decade of Tory austerity, say they have been left with no choice but to raise council taxes in order to deliver services.
Here’s a list of Reform run councils and how much they have raised or are intending to raise council tax by:
- Worcestershire 9%
- Lincolnshire 2.9%
- Lancashire 5%
- Warwickshire 4.4%
- Kent 3.9% (with risk warning)
- West Northamptonshire 4.9%
- North Northamptonshire 4.9%
- Nottinghamshire 3.9%
- Derbyshire 4.99%
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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