Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Labour councillors of leaving Wandsworth Council with a historic £137 million budget gap after visiting south London.
Mrs Badenoch claimed central Government is cutting council grant funding by 40 per cent under Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner's local authority funding reforms, which redirect money toward Labour-voting areas in northern England.
The Opposition leader joined party campaigners on Tuesday for a major canvassing operation ahead of a crucial council by-election next week. Victory in the vote would secure one additional seat on the local authority, giving the Conservatives an outright majority.
Writing on social media following her visit, Mrs Badenoch criticized the borough's previous administration. "Labour left Wandsworth Council with a historic £137m budget gap," she wrote. "And to make things even worse, the Labour Government are cutting Wandsworth's council funding by a massive 40%." She added: "It's no wonder Wandsworth's residents are fed up. Labour just doesn't seem to care about them."
Mrs Badenoch urged local residents to vote for Conservative candidate Otto Jacobson in the upcoming poll. She stated that electing Mr Jacobson would "give the Conservatives the outright majority we need to balance the books and clean up Labour's mess."
Inherited financial pressures and spending review
A spending review published last month by the incoming Conservative administration stated that the town hall inherited the largest government cuts, projected overspending, and predicted budget gap in Wandsworth history from Labour.
The report claimed that the previous Labour administration used financial reserves to balance the budget after taking control in 2022. It also alleged that Labour increased council staff levels by 14 per cent while spending and borrowing millions of pounds without raising revenue.
Wandsworth is a London borough situated in south-west London, historically known for maintaining low local taxation. The spending report noted that the borough had previously been "synonymous with low council tax" but alleged that Labour ministers viewed that reputation "as a problem, not a positive."
The document warned that council tax in Wandsworth would have to increase by more than 230 per cent to balance the books if urgent action was not taken by the authority.
Local leaders pledged to implement corrective financial measures to protect residents. "We will not do nothing," the report stated. "Instead, we will find savings, identify efficiencies, cut waste and do everything possible to limit the impact on residents' bills. At the same time, we will protect the services that matter most and meet our manifesto promises."
Local tax rates and revenue contributions
The annual bill for a Band D property in Wandsworth currently stands at £1,020, which is the lowest rate in England. Half of the bill goes directly to the local council, while the remainder goes to the Greater London Authority. Across England, the average Band D council tax bill is more than twice as high at £2,392.
Reports indicate Wandsworth is considering hiking its share of council tax bills by 160 per cent next year, which would mark the largest percentage increase in the borough's history.
Official figures show that residents of the borough, home to fewer than 350,000 people, pay £4.7 billion annually in income tax to central Government. This revenue contribution is significantly higher than that of major regional cities such as Birmingham, which has a population of 1.2 million.
Labour defense and response
Wandsworth Labour leader Simon Hogg strongly rejected the Conservative accusations regarding council finances. "When Labour ran Wandsworth Council we had the lowest council tax in the country, the highest reserves of any neighbouring borough and no external debt," Mr Hogg said.
Mr Hogg accused the new Tory administration of creating instability in municipal governance. "The new Conservative administration has brought chaos," he said. "They are extreme and divided and clearly don't have a plan for how to run the council."
