Three in four of worst hit constituencies for sewage dumping held by Conservative MPs

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

• 75 of the the top 100 constituencies for the worst number of sewage spills last year held by Conservative MPs

• Rishi Sunak’s constituency was the 10th worst hit in England, with the duration of sewage dumping doubling to 42,000 hours in 2023

• Theresa May’s seat of Maidenhead saw a staggering forty fold increase in duration of sewage dumping

• Lib Dems warn of a “reckoning at the ballot box” from former Conservative voters furious about the sewage scandal 

96% of Conservative held seats in England saw an increase in sewage dumping last year, with the worst constituency for sewage dumping facing 100,000 hours worth of spills, Liberal Democrat analysis of House of Commons Library research has shown. 

Geoffrey Cox’s seat of Torridge and West Devon was the worst affected last year by sewage dumping, facing 97,000 hours worth of sewage being pumped into the area's waterways, a 65% increase on 2022’s figure This was followed by Central Devon, Skipton and Ripon, Penrith and The Border, and Totnes, all of which experienced over 50,000 hours worth of dumps by water companies.

450 of the 508 seats in England saw a rise in the duration of sewage dumping and 456 saw a rise in the number of spills in 2023 compared to the previous year. In a staggering 96% of Conservative held seats in England there was an increase in sewage spills last year.

Some of the worst-hit areas included those represented by prominent Conservative MPs. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s seat of Richmond in Yorkshire ranked the 10th worst in the country, with 41,968 hours of discharges in 2023, double the previous year.

The second worst-hit in the country was Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride’s seat of Central Devon, with a whopping 61,840 hours in 2023, up 84%. In the Environment Secretary Steve Barclay’s seat of North East Cambridge the duration of sewage spills almost tripled, with an 182% rise. Maidenhead, represented by former Prime Minister Theresa May, saw a massive forty-fold annual increase in the duration of sewage dumps in 2023.

Several Conservative cabinet ministers saw their constituencies land in the top 20% worst-affected areas for sewage spills last year including Richard Holden, Gillian Keegan, Chris Heaton-Harris, Mark Harper, Michelle Donelan, Victoria Atkins and Lucy Frazer In total, seats represented by cabinet ministers suffered a cumulative 265,500 hours of sewage spills in 2023. 

Other constituencies to see massive yearly increases in the duration of sewage dumps included several top marginal Blue Wall seats being targeted by the Liberal Democrats. These include Winchester with a seventeen fold rise (1,661%), Chelmsford with an eleven fold increase (1,023%) and Cheltenham with an almost fivefold increase (480%).

The Liberal Democrats have led the way in campaigning against sewage dumping for years. The party is calling for strict measures including replacing Ofwat with a tougher regulator, a ban on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways and the declaration of a national environmental emergency.

Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson, Tim Farron MP said:

“These figures show the worst hit areas by soaring levels of sewage dumping are held by Conservative MPs, including Rishi Sunak’s own constituency.

“It shows Conservative ministers are turning a blind eye to rivers and beaches being ruined by filthy sewage dumping in their own backyards.

“People are sick to the back teeth with Conservative MPs voting time and again to allow water companies to get away with this environmental vandalism. Come the election, this government faces a reckoning at the ballot box from former lifelong Conservative voters furious about this sewage scandal.

“The Liberal Democrats have led the way for years in campaigning for tougher action to stop this filthy practice. We want to see a tougher regulator to replace Ofwat, an end to bonuses for polluting water company bosses and a national environmental emergency called.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor: 

First reported by the Times.

Details of sewage spills by parliamentary constituency can be found here.