Flagship Reform-run council to raise taxes after pledging not to

Kent County Council, which has been controlled by Nigel Farage's party since May this year, revealed a 3.99 per cent council tax hike in its draft budget for 2026-27.

It means an average Band D household will see its council tax rise by an estimated £67.47 per year.

Read more: Reform UK council under fire for removing Victorian lamp posts

Read more: Farage announces Laila Cunningham as Reform candidate for London mayor

The party overturned a 30-year Tory majority by winning 57 out of 81 seats, using campaign messages such as a “reduce waste and cut your taxes".

With the increase coming just 1 per cent below the Government cap, opposition councillors have warned that further impacts on key services are on the way.

Last year, a leaked video showed KCC leader Linden Kemkaran tell Reform colleagues that council tax rises had to be kept below 5 per cent because the local authority was a "shop window" for what the party could do in government.

In a statement on Thursday, Ms Kemkaran said: "These proposals reflect the real priorities of Kent residents. People took the time to share their views, and we listened."

The council leader said the latest budget aimed to "stabilise" the authority's finances, which she described as "very serious".

She added that her councillors inherited hundreds of millions of pounds in debt and had managed to raise taxes "while protecting frontline services”.

However, the authority has been accused of "totally betraying" its election promises by the opposing Liberal Democrats.

Their leader Anthony Hook told the Telegraph: "Reform stood for election promising to make savings and lower the burden on taxpayers.

"Today, that promise has been utterly broken. They are boasting about a nearly 4% increase instead of 5%, a difference of just 33p per week for the average Kent family.

"It’s a poor outcome given the hype and promises made at the election and for the last nine months."

Others KCC leaders have defended the tax raises, arguing that keeping it below the 5 per cent limit allowed by central Government could lead to a lower grant in future from Westminster.

“For every 1% of council tax that you reduce it costs you on paper £10 million,” said Harry Rayner, Conservative group leader at KCC.

“Now it doesn’t stop there; the Government have the option in those circumstances to reduce the amount they give you in grant money by the same amount again, another £10 million. So actually in order to save £10 million, you end up losing £20 million.”

During their election campaign, Reform also promised to "reduce waste" through a Elon Musk style Department of Local Government Efficiency (Dolge).

But the party has been accused of not finding any tangible savings through the new department, with both the Conservatives and Lib Dems branding it a "failure".

“By squeezing these reserves to cover their own indecision, Reform is gambling with the council’s future. They are smashing the piggy bank to pay for their own overspending," the Lib Dems said.

KCC will determine its final budget and council tax charge on February 12 at a full council meeting.