Ian George: Under the Lib Dems, Kingston upon Thames has the highest Council Tax in London

Cllr Ian George represents Coombe Hill Ward on Kingston-upon-Thames Council.

Here in Kingston upon Thames, things are not (currently) looking rosy for the Conservatives. The Lib Dems run the council with 42 of the possible 48 councillors. There is a loose group of Independents who have four councillors, leaving the Conservatives with just a two councillor group. On top of this, we have LibDem MPs too, including Sir Ed, the LibDem leader.

For the Conservatives, as far as the number of elected officials are concerned, things have never been bleaker in the Royal Borough. However, despite the miserly number of councillors, the actual Conservative vote spread around the borough shows there is a good base of support to build on, and there are growing signs of ‘buyer’s remorse’ amongst the Kingston electorate.

Here in Kingston, we pay the highest council tax in London. This isn’t the one issue that decides elections, but we are finding more and more locally who are either struggling to pay the exorbitant council tax (up by the usual 4.99 per cent again this year), or who are becoming fed up that the money they are paying isn’t being effectively spent.

We have just gone past the fifth anniversary of the closure of Kingston’s Kingfisher Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre. With the roof requiring repairs, the LibDems took the rash decision to knock the building down in order to show progress in delivering a new one, prior to the last local elections. This political stunt, not only cost us financially, but has left a whole generation of children unable to swim locally.

Recently, the Lib Dems increased many of the parking charges around the borough threefold. Residents are unsurprisingly starting to feel the parking pinch, as are local businesses who rely on shoppers being able to park for a reasonable cost. This is the latest in a line of anti-car initiatives by the Lib Dems. Recently, they cut the number of on-street cycle hangars that encourage people living in flats to use a bike, but whacked up car parking charges at the same time. It’s all stick and no carrot as far as encouraging people to use more sustainable travel choices is concerned.

Being publicly held to account is not something the Lib Dems are keen on, and they have taken increasingly drastic action to prevent public involvement in council meetings. We used to have reasonably well-attended meetings, with residents and (mainly opposition) councillors discussing issues in some depth. However, any questions are now batted away with a promise of a written response (written by officers) at some point in the future. There is certainly very little room left for proper discussion, even in Neighbourhood Committee meetings where hot topics such as road closures (Low Traffic Neighbourhoods) are concerned. In previous times, even when decisions went against them, residents felt that at least they had been listened to. That’s no longer the case in Kingston.

As with all boroughs in London, housing and development is a big issue. The Lib Dems have dragged their heels in finalising a new Local Plan, leaving us to cope with the inevitable consequence of having new developments that are not as good as they could have been. Through proposing a recent council motion (albeit watered down), the Conservatives did manage to get them to at least look into reviewing green belt land that might be purposefully degraded, in the hope of becoming designated grey-belt land. The lack of an up to date Local Plan has led to developments such as seven shared-living flats with a total of 49 bedrooms in two separate blocks, replacing one large family house in an area without the expected facilities. Most people accept the need to build new homes locally, but we need Kingston Council to be more proactive in shaping good quality developments, backed up with a strong Local Plan.

So, there is plenty for local residents to feel let down about, by the Lib Dem-controlled council. I haven’t even touched on their failings on bread and butter issues such as maintaining the roads and pavements, cleaning the streets, cutting grass verges etc. But what are we (Conservatives) going to do about it, I hear you ask.

Well, despite the poor performance at the last local elections, we have the benefit of several rejuvenated local Conservative associations (Richmond Park, Kingston & Surbiton, and Wimbledon) who are already working hard towards the 2026 elections. The associations, activists and councillors are working together to make the most of issues where the Lib Dems are clearly failing at. And we are out there positively helping local residents and community groups too. On top of that, the many doorstep conversations we are having are much more positive towards the Conservatives, than prior to the general election.

At the elections next year, the Lib Dems will outspend us massively in their campaign, through the money that their many councillors pay from their council allowances, and the money from the MPs campaigning funds. However, across the borough the Conservative councillors will be working hard with our activists and new candidates to highlight the many Lib Dem failings, and propose an altogether more positive future for the Royal Borough. Kingston (which includes Surbiton, New Malden and Chessington) is a great place to live, and despite previous electoral disappointments, the Conservative family is alive and kicking.