‘I had to learn very quickly’: Reform UK leader, 19, defends council tax rise

Warwickshire council leader George Finch, 19, says council workers have caused ‘a lot of blockage’. Photograph: Fabio de Paola/The Guardian

The 19-year-old leader of a Reform-led council has defended proposals for a 3.89% council tax rise, despite senior officers saying anything less than 5% would put the financial viability of the local authority at risk.

Financial executives at Warwickshire county council said in December that the proposed increase was a “riskier financial strategy” that would threaten the medium-term sustainability of the local authority.