Key Points

• Hounslow Council has moved to no overall control after Labour and the Co-operative Party together hold 31 of 62 seats, one short of a majority.
• The shift follows the suspension of Councillor Gurbachan Athwal from the Labour group after he was charged with fraud by abuse of position; he now sits as an Independent.
• Councillor Shantanu Rajawat remains Leader of the Council, listed under Labour and Co-operative Party, despite the loss of a numerical majority.
• The non-Labour bloc comprises 17 Conservatives, eight Reform UK councillors, three Greens, one Liberal Democrat, one Brentford & Isleworth Independent and one Independent (Cllr Athwal).
• Opposition figures have argued that Labour, now a minority administration, should pause attempts to alter the council’s constitution to reduce scrutiny.
• A separate controversy has emerged over the council’s housing lead failing to declare an unpaid directorship in a property-related company, prompting calls for her removal from Cabinet.
• Council procedures allow for committee appointments to be adjusted to reflect political proportionality under no overall control, but such changes are administrative and distinct from the current seat arithmetic.

uk/local/hounslow/">Hounslow (West London Times) October 8, 2026 — Hounslow Council has moved to no overall control after Labour and the Co-operative Party together hold 31 of the borough’s 62 seats, leaving the administration one seat short of a numerical majority. The change in the political balance has been confirmed in the council’s published member list, which records 22 councillors under Labour and nine under Labour and Co-operative Party, with the remaining 31 seats spread across other parties and independents.

What is the current seat distribution on Hounslow Council?

According to the council’s current member list, the 31 non-Labour seats are held by 17 Conservatives, eight Reform UK councillors, three Green Party councillors, one Liberal Democrat, one Brentford & Isleworth Independent and one Independent.

Taken together, these entries account for all 62 elected members. While Labour remains the largest single grouping, 31 seats represent exactly half the council rather than more than half, which is the threshold required for a working majority in full council votes.

Who is leading Hounslow Council after the loss of majority?

Councillor Shantanu Rajawat remains listed as Leader of the Council, with his party affiliation shown as Labour and Co-operative Party. Democratic services records confirm his appointment as Leader for the 2026–2030 council term at the Annual General Meeting in May 2026.

The shift to no overall control describes the distribution of seats, not an automatic change of leader or an end to the council’s work; the current leadership entry and the lack of a numerical majority are separate features of the same council.

How did Labour lose its majority on Hounslow Council?

As reported by journalists covering west London politics, Labour’s loss of majority control followed the arrest and charging of Councillor Gurbachan Athwal with fraud by abuse of position in late September. He was subsequently suspended from the Labour group and now sits as an Independent councillor for Heston East, with his term recorded as running from 11 May 2026 to 7 May 2030.

His profile lists ongoing council appointments, including roles on scrutiny panels, the Heston and Cranford Area Forum and licensing bodies, illustrating that a changed party label on a member list is not itself the removal of a councillor from office.

What have opposition councillors said about the new arithmetic?

Opposition figures have argued that the new balance of power should affect how the administration proceeds. As reported by local news outlets covering the story, Liberal Democrat Councillor Roger Crouch and other opposition members have stated that, now that the council has tipped into no overall control, Labour has no mandate to unilaterally change the council’s constitution to reduce scrutiny of what is now a minority administration, and should pause such attempts.

Their position rests on the view that a 31–31 split removes the presumption of a majority mandate, even if the administration continues to govern.

What is the role of the Mayor in a 31–31 deadlock?

Under council standing orders, the Mayor—who is elected by the council—would hold a second casting vote in the event of a tied vote in full council. In Hounslow’s instance, this means that if all non-Labour councillors united against any proposals, creating a 31–31 draw, the Mayor’s casting vote alongside the administration could determine the outcome.

However, the equal totals do not establish that all those members will vote together; attendance, the business under consideration and the procedures for a meeting can affect how decisions are reached.

What is the separate controversy over the council’s housing lead?

In a separate development, the council’s cabinet member for housing has faced calls to resign after failing to declare that she was a director and shareholder of a company set up to buy, sell and lease residential property. As reported by journalists at London news titles, opposition councillors have called on Councillor Shantanu Rajawat, Leader of Hounslow Council, to remove her from Cabinet over the failure to declare the interest.

In response, Cllr Rajawat has stated that the councillor accepts that she made an error, immediately self-referred to the Monitoring Officer, and took advice and steps to update her register of interests, describing the situation as a clear misunderstanding around the need to declare unpaid, unremunerated directorships of inactive companies that have never traded.

How might committee representation be affected?

The balance between groups can also matter for committees and other council bodies. A published agenda for the current municipal year provides for appointments to be adjusted where necessary to ensure political proportionality.

That procedure concerns how representation on those bodies reflects the distribution of political groups, rather than simply who holds the largest number of full-council seats. Any adjustment would be a separate administrative step, not something that can be read automatically from the 31–31 total. Residents can distinguish the current member list, which establishes the present affiliations and elected roles, from subsequent committee appointments and decisions.

Explore More Hounslow News

Hounslow Housing Lead Faces Backlash Over Undeclared Directorship in Hounslow 2026

Labour Loses Majority Control of Hounslow Council in Hounslow 2026

Background of the development

The immediate development is clear: Hounslow’s Labour councillors no longer account for more than half the seats, while the listed council leader and elected ward representatives remain in place. The 2026 local elections in May had already reduced Labour’s majority to a single seat, with the party winning 32 of 62 seats, Conservatives gaining 17, Reform UK eight, Greens three, and one seat each for the Liberal Democrats and an independent grouping.

The subsequent suspension of Cllr Athwal from the Labour group tipped the council into no overall control, a status that, according to national data, was the most common mode of political control across councils in England after the May 2026 local elections.

Prediction: how this development can affect Hounslow residents and local stakeholders

The shift to no overall control is likely to make the passage of contentious policies more uncertain, as the administration can no longer rely on a guaranteed majority in full council votes. For Hounslow residents, this could mean more negotiated outcomes on housing, regeneration and service priorities, with greater scope for opposition and independent councillors to extract concessions or amendments.

For local businesses and community groups, decision-making may become more iterative, with increased importance placed on cross-party consensus and scrutiny processes. In practical terms, the change raises the stakes for attendance at key votes and may encourage more formal coalitions or issue-by-issue agreements, shaping how quickly and in what form major council initiatives reach implementation.