Kemi Badenoch orders lawyers to challenge Labour cuts which Tory-run council says has forced it to hike council tax by 94 per cent

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By CLAIRE ELLICOTT

Published: 00:00 BST, 18 September 2026 | Updated: 01:08 BST, 18 September 2026

Kemi Badenoch last night instructed lawyers to challenge Government cuts which Tory-run Wandsworth Council says has forced it to increase council tax by 94 per cent.

The Tory leader said it was 'outrageous' that the amount was increasing so much but said it was due to 40 per cent cuts to their funding by Labour.

She said the Conservative Party would challenge the decision in court because of the principle behind it.

Ms Badenoch told BBC Newsnight: 'We have actually instructed lawyers, as the Conservative Party, to see if we can challenge the government on this decision.

'Because what it looks like Labour is doing is taking money from areas that don't vote Labour and giving it to places that do vote Labour.

'And I think that's completely wrong. I think it is outrageous. So we're talking to lawyers. Andy Burnham has not found 40 per cent of anything to cut, but he's asking Wandsworth to do that. I don't think that's fair. I don't think that's right.'

She said the nearly 100 per cent increase would hit family budgets and it wasn't fair to punish homeowners for not voting Labour.

The Tory leader has previously accused Labour of starving the council of future funding.

Kemi Badenoch said it was 'outrageous' that the council tax in Wandsworth was increasing so much but said it was due to 40 per cent cuts to their funding by Labour

Tory-run Wandsworth Council announced a 94 per cent rise in its council tax earlier this week 

Ms Badenoch said the Government had left Wandsworth Council, which it lost to the Tories in May after running it for just one term, with a 'historic' £137 million gap in its finances.

She blamed Housing Secretary Angela Rayner's controversial reforms that give more money to Labour-voting areas in the north.

This summer, a spending review published by the incoming Tory administration on the town hall said it had inherited from Labour 'the largest government cuts, the largest projected overspending and the largest predicted budget gap in Wandsworth's history'.

The report claimed that the previous Labour administration had used reserves to balance the budget, had increased staff by 14 per cent since taking over in 2022 and had spent and borrowed millions more without increasing revenue.

It warned that Wandsworth's council tax 'would have to increase by more than 230 per cent' to balance the books if urgent action was not taken.

The report said that Margaret Thatcher's favourite borough had previously been 'synonymous with low council tax' but that Labour ministers saw that 'as a problem, not a positive'.

Residents in the borough currently pay £1,020 a year for Band D council tax - split equally between the council and the Mayor of London.

Under the plans, the council's £510 share would surge by £958 while the Mayor's portion stays unchanged. This means the total bill will almost double to £1,978.