Members of Surrey County Council approved its final budget for 2026/27 on Tuesday (February 3), but not without a bit of political melodrama.

Less than half an hour into the meeting the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Cllr Paul Follows, called to defer the budget, arguing councillors needed more time to scrutinise it properly.

Despite this call, the debate went ahead and the budget passed with a comfortable majority, with most opposition coming from the Lib Dem benches.

In language not seen for a long time from the Conservative county council leader, Cllr Tim Oliver slammed Cllr Follows’ move as “antics” that were foolish and performative behaviour.

He did not stop there. Cllr Oliver accused the Lib Dem leader of trying to “subvert” the budget process by claiming the Surrey County Council constitution required a medium-term financial strategy (MTFS), otherwise known as a 3-5 year financial plan, to be published alongside the annual budget.

The row had been brewing for days. The Liberal Democrats had questioned why there was no three-year financial plan included in the council’s budget and whether this was legal.

Cllr Oliver told the full council that even after officers corrected the misunderstanding and this was independently verified, Cllr Follows persisted.

“To stop him wasting more officer time and to allow this council to get on and set a budget for our residents,” the council leader said, “I asked officers on Friday, when I first heard of his antics, to freshen up the previous MTFP.”

He also criticised Cllr George Potter over a social media post “riddled with inaccurate and misleading statements” which he said amounted to “misinformation that is wilfully misleading residents” about the budget.

Cllr Potter defended his comments in the meeting as a robust criticism of Surrey’s financial plan.

“Let me be crystal clear,” Cllr Tim Oliver said during his statement: “The published budget sets out how this council will allocate its income in 2026/27, income received from our hard working residents, and the last budget before this council is abolished.

“Setting out what a budget might look like in 2027, 2028, and 2029 is absolutely pointless.”

The Lib Dems saw it differently. Speaking at full council, Cllr Follows said he thought it was a “red flag” that the council had not published a MTFP.

The Lib Dem leader conceded the council does not technically need one but he said: “Just because it is legally the correct thing to do, doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do.”

The Conservatives expressed frustration that, while other opposition groups had proposed amendments, the Lib Dems had apparently not offered any constructive feedback, but rather they were ‘subverting’ the council’s last budget.

On the other hand, the Lib Dems (who are hoping to win big in the May elections) argued they were being asked to sign off a budget spending plan for 2026/27 without a clear picture of what financial pressure they might inherit.

During the meeting, Cllr Follows argued that the MTFP is an important, forward-looking document. He rejected the idea that Surrey County Council “cannot possibly” forecast where the new unitaries may exist as they may make different decisions and be made up of different political administrations.

Cllr Potter, who supported the motion to defer the budget, said MTFP are not just “nice to have” but actually shows how spending decisions today will impact over the next three years.

The Lib Dem councillor said he was worried the MTFP shows the council has “massaged” figures so the new unitary authorities will pick up the bill from the county council not making the difficult choices today.

He added: “My concern remains that, whenever I hear Tim Oliver speak about finances at this council, what I hear is a mindset of denial, a mindset of everything must have been done perfectly, there cannot be anything wrong […] that any criticism is politically motivated.”

Despite the mud-slinging, neither party came out unscathed. The Lib Dems have chosen a technical and complex issue to make their stand, one many residents may struggle to follow.

Although the Tories secured approval for their budget, the whole performance gave the apperance of an administration on its final legs, with Cllr Tim Oliver showing flashes of irritation rarely seen by the measured leader.

Cllr Chris Townsend (Ashtead Independent) said, in a neat summary of the drama: “Some of the leaders have gone into election mode already. Although I should expect that, I don’t think the public should. I’ll let the public decide in May.”