Voters will head to the polls in Harrow on Thursday, 5 May, to elect their new council as part of England’s local elections.
Boundary reviews mean this year’s council will be made up of just 55 councillors, down from the 63 councillors who sat in the last term – a significant shift.
There will be 11 wards electing three councillors and another 11 which will elect two councillors each.
Labour has had a majority on the council since the 2018 local elections, where it won 35 seats while the Conservatives won 28.
Graham Henson has been the council’s leader since 2018 when he defeated the incumbent Sachin Shah in the local Labour annual general meeting.
A by-election was held in 2021 after the former Conservative leader of the council died, and the Pinner South ward was held by the Conservatives.
The council also gained an independent councillor, after the Labour Party expelled councillor Pamela Fitzpatrick, which she claims was due to an interview she gave to a socialist newspaper.
What are the parties promising?
If elected on Thursday, Harrow Conservatives are promising to improve street cleaning, crackdown on fly-tipping, and introduce one-hour free parking across Harrow.
They say that these policies have been fully costed.
The Conservatives have also been critical of tax rises in the council, citing MyLondon research showing that Harrow Labour increased council tax by 31.1% since 2011.
Harrow Labour has pledged to build 1,000 council homes if re-elected and to tackle fly-tipping by deploying roving CCTV cameras and investing £1million to tackle environmental crime.
The party is also pledging to introduce 30-minute free parking on its high streets and has criticised the central government for cutting its government grant by 97%.
The Liberal Democrats are promising to crack down on the construction of new high rises, build new cycle lanes, and introduce free parking for electric vehicles.
The Green Party is also campaigning locally against high rises and is trying to stop The 265 Ridgeway development in West Harrow.
Polling stations will be open from 7am-10pm, with this being the final council election before the introduction of new photo ID requirements.
You can find your local polling station here.
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