Row Breaks Out Over 'Taxpayer-funded' Electioneering
Hounslow Highways video appears to promote Labour candidate
The post was made on the Hounslow Highways X account
March 26, 2026
Labour-led Hounslow Council has been accused of using taxpayer money to promote the party’s candidates on the local authority’s social media accounts.
The local Conservative Group submitted complaints to the monitoring officer after Hounslow Highways shared a video which included Cllr Marina Sharma appearing as a candidate in the upcoming elections. Council communications are supposed to be strictly impartial and not used to promote any candidate or party.
The now deleted video, which was shared on X, begins with Cllr Sharma introducing herself as a councillor and candidate for Cranford ward. It went on to display the work that the Labour-led council is doing on tackling fly-tipping in the borough. The councillor gives advice on waste disposal and highlights that booking is no longer required to bring rubbish to the Space Waye tip from Monday to Thursday.
Local government guidance advises councils that accounts must not engage with or share political content, particularly during the “pre-election period” (purdah) where special restrictions on communication are enforced. Purdah is not due to commence for two weeks, however with local elections only ten weeks away, the Hounslow Conservative Group is taking issue with the video.
Hounslow Council says that Hounslow Highways is “not part of the council but is a contractor”. However, it is a council-owned company, meaning it is directly funded by Hounslow Council.
Cllr Jack Emsley, a Conservative councillor for Chiswick Homefields, says the group has reported the incident to the Electoral Commission. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “This clip is the latest example of taxpayer funded comms teams promoting Labour election candidates.
“We have reported this to the council’s legal team and Electoral Commission. Taxpayers in our borough will rightly be shocked that they are subsidising overt campaigning for particular candidates in the run up to May’s elections.
“This blatant breaking of the rules shows just how desperate the Hounslow Labour Party are getting.”
The LDRS contacted the Hounslow Labour Group for comment, however no response was received by time of publication.
A Hounslow Council spokesperson said: “The council is aware of the concerns raised in relation to the video posted by Hounslow Highways, which has since been deleted. Hounslow Highways is not a part of the council but is a contractor. We can confirm that a complaint has been submitted to the Monitoring Officer for consideration.”
Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |