Badenoch stands by tax pledge as council tax rises

The Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has defended promising lower taxes in her party's local elections campaign despite Tory-run councils in Sussex and Surrey raising council tax by the maximum amount.

Badenoch told BBC South East that on "average across the board, Conservative councils do deliver lower taxes and better services".

She said councils were "having to spend so much more on things we never used to do" but said she trusted Conservative councillors to "always do the right thing".

Surrey County Council, East Sussex County Council and West Sussex County Council have all increased council tax by 4.99% for 2026/27.

Asked about the rises, Badenoch said: "We can all see that government is tight for money, councils are tight for money."

She added that she had been told of some councils that were spending 70% on adult social care.

She said that "some people will have to raise taxes, but what I'm saying is that if another party was there, they would be increasing them by a lot more".

She pointed to Worcestershire County Council, which was given permission to raise council tax by 9%.

Badenoch was also asked if her party's pledge to spend £112.5m on buying new diggers to mend potholes was enough to address the condition of the South East's roads.

Several councils across the region have logged record numbers of pothole reports in recent months.

East Sussex County Council has estimated it would cost £350m to bring the county's roads up to a good standard.

Badenoch said the plan showed people that "we're finding new ideas, new innovative ways of doing things and it's Conservatives that are doing this thinking".

Asked if the Conservatives had given councils enough funding for roads while they were in government, she said that spending such as the furlough scheme during the Covid pandemic had meant "other areas have been squeezed".

"We left the growing economy to Labour and everything has gone backwards," she said.

"So I'm not saying that all of the roads everywhere in the country were perfect.

"What I am saying is that they are getting worse."

Recent polling has suggested the Conservatives could face a challenge in retaining control of West Sussex County Council, which they have held for 29 years, and remaining in charge at East Sussex County Council, which they have run for 25 years.

Badenoch said her party was "certainly not being complacent".

"The era of two-party politics has turned into an era of five-party politics, and we need to remind people what the Conservative Party is about," she said.

She said her message was "cutting through" and pointed to new policies on abolishing stamp duty and scrapping business rates.

BBC South East will be speaking to senior figures in all of the major political parties before 7 May.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.