Hounslow Council leader Shantanu Rajawat now heads a Labour minority administration after one councillor began sitting as an Independent, leaving Labour with 31 of the council’s 62 seats and no party with an overall majority.
The council’s current register lists Gurbachan Athwal, a Heston East councillor elected for Labour in May, as an Independent. It does not state the reason for the change.
How the council now stands
Labour and Labour and Co-operative councillors together now hold 31 of the council’s 62 seats. The Conservatives have 17, Reform UK eight, the Greens three, Independents two and the Liberal Democrats one.
Labour won exactly 32 seats at the May election, the number required for an overall majority. The new balance means no party has outright control.
Rajawat remains council leader and a Labour and Co-operative councillor for Heston West. The Cabinet continues to exercise the authority’s executive functions, but full-council votes will now depend on attendance and support across the chamber.
The next scheduled full council meeting is on 24 November. Council services continue as normal; the political significance is that the administration can no longer rely on a majority of all councillors.
