12/08/2026
KEEPING TAXES DOWN IS NOT JUST WHAT I AM PROMISING, IT IS EXACTLY WHAT I DID IN MY EIGHT YEARS AS MAYOR OF COPELAND
The first three years of Labour-run Cumberland and Lib Dem-run Westmorland & Furness councils have seen council tax increase by 15.73%, inflation over that exact timespan was 8.97%. They are increasing your council tax by nearly double the rate of inflation.
Over my full two terms as Mayor of Copeland council tax increased by 14.47%, inflation over that exact timespan was 30.14%. Council tax went up by less than half the rate of inflation. In real terms that is a significant reduction in council tax, which is why Copeland went from having the highest council tax in Cumbria in 2015 to one of the lowest by 2023.
It was not just council tax kept lower, but fees and charges too. For example, crematorium charges in the first three years of the new council have risen at an average 3.41% annually more than double the average annual increase throughout my two terms of 1.68%.
In the first three years of Cumberland car parking charges have increased by between 17% and 22% again more than double the rate of inflation.
Over my entire time as Mayor, car parking charges were frozen and had a 0% increase, taking inflation into account that was a significant reduction in car parking charges.
This is replicated across the whole range of fees and charges applied by the council; they have gone up around double the rate of inflation while for my eight years as Mayor the were kept down at less than half the rate of inflation.
That is delivering more and charging less.
During the first three years of Cumberland and despite the massive increases in taxes and fees and charges, they have increased the eye watering debt they inherited from the Labour run Cumbria County council by another £11m to £262m and they still need to find millions of pounds more to balance the budget.
During my eight years as Mayor of Copeland we paid off the inherited debt overspend of £13.2m from Labour, absorbed £24m in central government funding cuts, yet we never borrowed any money and never incurred a single penny of debt.
In Copeland we increased staff numbers, we invested millions of pounds into improving and increasing services notably waste and recycling, bereavement services and our unique social inclusion programme and brought in unprecedented levels of investment.
We significantly increased the council’s assets and massively reduced its liabilities, most notably by buying out the PFI in a deal worth £25 million to council taxpayers.
If elected Mayor of Cumbria my focus will be on bringing investment into Cumbria not taxes onto Cumbrians.
