Westminster Labour's legacy of financial mismanagement and poor due diligence has cost local people another £8 million, Westminster Conservatives have announced.
The previous Labour administration signed off a multi-million-pound project at Mandela Way without doing the basic groundwork checks, and local people are now picking up a bill of nearly £8 million to pay for their poor due diligence.
The failure was uncovered by the administration's ongoing contract and capital review, led by Cllr Paul Fisher, Cabinet Member for Value for Money and Finance, which has now identified £27 million wasted on the Geoffrey Osborne scandal and £3 million lost on the Keltbray contract In Church Street, in addition to the Mandela Way failure.
The review also found that Westminster Labour raided £19 million from the council's reserves to fund a pre-election gimmick, freezing council tax for one year with no plan for how to pay for it afterwards. Combined, Labour's financial mismanagement identified since May 2026 now stands at more than £56 million.
This comes as Westminster faces unprecedented funding cuts of £100 million to its core budget from a Labour Government the administration says is out of touch with local pressures across the city. Westminster Conservatives are asking residents for their views on the Labour government's imposed council tax increases and cutting of local services through the Budget Choices consultation.
Cllr Paul Fisher, Cabinet Member for Value for Money and Finance, said:
“This is what happens when a Labour council fails to complete basic checks and rubber-stamps decisions with complete disregard for taxpayers' money.
"Since taking office, I have been scrutinising every major contract and capital project this council signed under Labour, line by line. Every one of these failures happened on Labour's watch, signed off by Labour councillors, defended by a Labour leadership that, to this day, has not properly apologised to residents for any of it.
"Residents deserve a council that treats their money like it matters. We will keep scrutinising their legacy of mismanagement and deliver value for money to build a City That Works for All.”
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Westminster Conservatives will continue to review every contract and capital project inherited from Labour, cleaning up Labour's mess as we build a City That Works for All.
