Carol Vorderman sells £450k flat in Wales after council tax hike

She became the ultimate turncoat Tory, transforming herself from friendly TV presenter to Labour-supporting, social-media warrior.

But Carol Vorderman appears to have become the latest victim of Labour's crackdown on second home owners – selling her luxury apartment in Wales after the local authority trebled her council tax.

Pembrokeshire Council opted for a 200 per cent increase from April this year – which meant her annual bill for the property she once described as her 'forever home' shot up from £1,700 to more than £5,000.

The seaside apartment in the village of Solva sold within days of going on the market, subject to conditions, with an asking price of £450,000, according to the estate agent's website.

The sale comes after a massive rise in council tax rates across the country aimed at freeing up properties for local people struggling to get on the housing ladder, particularly in tourist hotspots. 

Last night, one Solva homeowner said: 'She must have decided it wasn't worth paying all that money just to be here for a few weeks every year.

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'It's in a block of four holiday apartments and not suitable for a young couple who probably couldn't afford it anyway.'

The ex-Countdown presenter, who once fronted David Cameron's maths taskforce and was even pictured having a playful snowball fight with him at Westminster in 2009, has become more famous in recent years for her alleged online 'trolling' of Tory ministers, as well as her vocal support for Sir Keir Starmer.

Ms Vorderman bought the two-bedroom apartment with sea views over St Bride's Bay in Pembrokeshire less than three years ago and, at the time, said she hoped to spend her retirement there. 

Soon after she bought it for £350,000, Ms Vorderman posted on Instagram: 'Can you actually be in love with a place??? This is my heaven down here, I think I'm actually in love with it.'

She even told fans how she would want her funeral to be held in the quiet village, saying she'd like to be 'lowered from a helicopter onto a funeral pyre on a Viking raft going down Solva harbour'.

Estate agency Country Living Group described it as 'one of the finest to be found in the picturesque seaside village of Solva,' which was recently named as one of the best places to live in the UK.

The apartment boasts views out to sea which are 'wonderful whatever the season', and has a large open plan reception room and bedrooms with 'direct access to terraced balconies that look out over the bay'.

Locals said there was an exodus of second home owners in the area after the 200 per cent council tax premium came into force. There were 135 second homes for sale in July this year compared to just 38 last year.

A spokesman for Ms Vorderman, who was brought up in North Wales but now lives in Bristol, was contacted for comment.