tunbridge wells
For six days in December 2025, 24,000 people in Tunbridge Wells went without clean running water. Pregnant women fell sick, schools and businesses shut, and residents were told to boil what little water they had. This was not a freak event — it was the predictable result of decades of political failure.
← back to Agency & ChaptersHow We Got Here
The Tunbridge Wells crisis is not an anomaly. Water supply and quality incidents across the UK have increased by around 75% over the last 20 years, as successive governments let infrastructure decay. No reservoir has been built this century. The labyrinthine planning system our politicians created made upgrades to pumping stations and treatment centres painfully slow and expensive.
Our politicians chose process over outcomes — pats on the back from narrow interest groups over the welfare of millions. They made it effectively illegal to build in Britain, and residents paid the price. The water crisis in Tunbridge Wells is a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong: a governing class that neglected its most basic duties, and a public rightly angry at the crime, grime and decline they see all around them.
What Must Change
The only solution is radical planning reform and a fundamental shift in the culture of delivery across Whitehall. The default answer must change from "no" to "yes". First, Government must fix what exists — around 3 billion litres of treated water are lost daily to leaks and failing pipes. But repair alone will not be enough.
Like the Victorians, we must build infrastructure that is fit for the future: new reservoirs, pipelines and treatment centres that can meet the demands of tomorrow. What the Victorians had — and we have lost — is a governing culture that prized delivery above delay. We can recover that ethos. We can build a country that future generations will be proud to inherit.
We'll be launching more on this soon — watch this space.
Videos & Media
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January 14, 2026
Residents posting photos of their water after supply was restored — some had been without any water since Sunday.
Residents of Tunbridge Wells are posting what their water looks like since the water has been turned back on (for the hundredth time).
— Looking for Growth (@lfg_uk) January 14, 2026
Some have not had ANY supply since SUNDAY.
This was posted in Britain, in 2026. Come on. Seriously. pic.twitter.com/0oO6j0RaJH
January 7, 2026
The CEO of South East Water refuses to take responsibility for the crisis — blaming customers rather than the company's failures.
The people of Tunbridge Wells have been left without clean, running water AGAIN.
— Looking for Growth (@lfg_uk) January 7, 2026
Families. Schools. Businesses. All impacted.
But the CEO of South East Water refuses to take responsibility. Instead, he blames YOU.
Dave needs to just do his job. pic.twitter.com/7tzHSKSlXh
December 11, 2025
The water shortage in Tunbridge Wells exposes the cost of decades without new reservoirs — politicians must let Britain build.
Could you manage without running water?
— Looking for Growth (@lfg_uk) December 11, 2025
The water shortage in Tunbridge Wells is a shocking failure.
But it'll become more common across Britain because of creaking infrastructure, with no new reservoirs for 30 years.
Politicians must let Britain build.pic.twitter.com/iykqVc9yOR