Kingston and Surbiton MP, Ed Davey, is demanding that Andy Burnham make the radical overhaul of the broken water industry one of his first acts as Prime Minister.

It follows new analysis of data revealing the scale of environmental damage in Kingston and Surbiton, where it was revealed that Thames Water dumped sewage into local waterways for a staggering 143 hours last year across 18 separate spills.

A Lib Dem spokesperson said: "Following years of environmental vandalism and financial mismanagement by water firms, the Liberal Democrats are calling on the new administration to abandon the failed privatisation model and hand water infrastructure back to the public via a customer-owned mutual model."

Specifically, the Liberal Democrats are calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to:

• Put Thames Water into special administration immediately, permanently restructuring the company as a mutual run for the benefit of its customers.
• Transition all existing water companies into public-benefit mutuals, owned by the people rather than the state, ensuring they are run for public health and the environment instead of private profit.
• Abolish the toothless regulator Ofwat and replace it with a powerful new Clean Water Authority with statutory powers to enforce strict environmental standards and crack down on repeat offenders in Kingston and Surbiton and across the country.
• End the Great Sewage Cover-Up by forcing water companies to report the volume, not just the duration, of sewage spills.
• Implement an immediate, legally binding ban on all water company executive bonuses, free from loopholes.
• Ensure full accountability by recusing Number 10 advisor James Purnell from any involvement in decisions regarding Thames Water, given his previous work for a firm advising private utilities and major investors.

Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton, Ed Davey, said: "For years, people across Kingston and Surbiton have watched in anger as the Hogsmill has been pumped full of filthy sewage, all while foreign asset managers and corporate executives pocket billions.

"It is an absolute insult to local families that Thames Water is reporting profits while our local environment is routinely trashed and our water bills continue to rise.

"Andy Burnham has a clear choice in his first weeks in Number 10: stand up for communities like ours in Kingston and Surbiton, or let the same broken, polluting system continue.

"We need a clean break from the failed privatisation experiment - wiping the slate clean of vulture capital debt and handing our water infrastructure back to the people who actually use and rely on it."

A Thames Water spokesperson told Nub News: "We are committed to reducing discharges to improve the health of the environment.

"Over the next five years, we are delivering the biggest upgrade to our wastewater network in 150 years, including increased treatment capacity, reduced storm discharges and new nutrient‑reduction schemes.

"The Event Duration Monitor returns that were released show discharge events were around three times lower than the previous year with shorter spill durations.

"Although this is in part due to reduced rainfall in 2025, we are encouraged that we are seeing early signs of progress from the operational and capital investment we have been making.

"Taking action to improve the health of rivers is a key focus and transparent data is central to that effort.

"Across the water industry, current monitoring equipment does not measure the volume of sewage released, except at a small number of sites where this is required by a permit.

"We do have volume monitors at Mogden, Didcot, and several large, combined sewer overflows in London to support engineering work for the Tideway Tunnel. Where volume data is available we publish it."

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