Residents to Pay the Price for Labour’s Broken Promises in Waltham Forest

The Labour-run Council in Waltham Forest recently voted through a budget that will hurt our borough for years to come. It is a budget that attempts to balance the books on the backs of residents' pockets. It is a budget that could have significant long-term consequences.

Back in 2022, Labour promised residents that a Labour Government would deliver us a fair-funding deal. They promised help with the cost of living. Their top pledge? A brand new lido. 

Two years later, the Council Leader Grace Williams urged local voters to back Labour in the General Elections claiming that the funding challenges we faced locally would be fixed by a Labour Government. Their local Parliamentary Candidates Calvin Bailey and the soon-to-be Health Secretary Wes Streeting from neighbouring Ilford, also pledged to rebuild Whipps Cross Hospital.

What have we got in 2026? Plans for Whipps Cross shelved for a decade and a ‘Fair Funding Review’ that provides 6.4% less in real terms than Waltham Forest received 15 years ago.

We have the near maximum annual 5% Council Tax rise not just this year, but for the foreseeable future. Rent increases on Council dwellings are above the level of inflation. And the lido? Well, that promise wasn’t worth the leaflets it was printed on.

Having squandered taxpayers’ money on frivolous items, such as £7,600 on heated toilet seats at Waltham Forest Town Hall and over £62,000 on a vanity PR campaign called ‘Together Waltham Forest’, the Council now requires an emergency bailout to the tune of £19 million from the government to help balance the budget.

That loan will incur significant interest and it is the local tax payer who will see a sizeable chunk of their hard earned money spent on the repayments.

Equally concerning is the lack of clarity over how the Council will deploy the emergency funds and service the loan, despite Labour Councillor Paul Douglas insisting his party had “clear plans” for both.

Perhaps most worrying of all, Waltham Forest’s own Chief Financial Officer does not believe that the use of this emergency loan is a sustainable financial strategy. Labour have applied for the loan anyway.

Waltham Forest Labour have failed to make the case to their own government for fair funding. They have failed to persuade their own government to fund the Whipps Cross rebuild in this parliament. They have failed to persuade the Labour London Mayor to keep his promise to keep our last police front counter open.

Labour have given up on Waltham Forest. The Liberal Democrats believe it’s time for change.

Alex Marshall-Lewis is the chair of Waltham Forest Liberal Democrats and a community activist in Higham Hill.