A huge thank you to the thousands of residents across Somerset who stood with me to say "enough is enough." I am thrilled to share that the government has officially refused Somerset Council’s request to bypass the law and hit you with a staggering 11% Council Tax increase. This victory belongs to the thousands of you who signed my open letter, demanding that democratic safeguards be respected and that local families be protected from a "failure premium" caused by council mismanagement.
By standing together, we have saved the average household hundreds of pounds and forced the council to stick to the legal 5% cap. This proves that "people power" works; we successfully argued that if the council wanted to take more of your hard-earned money, they should have had the courage to face a public referendum. While the fight for better services and smarter spending continues, this is a massive win for our community and for local democracy.
Tell me what matters to you and your family in my survey below.
