Make up of Hounslow Council remains unclear

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No confirmation of who will be running the borough

Following the election result on May 4th there is still no confirmation of what the composition of the new Council will be.

Labour despite still being the largest party have announced that it is currently their intention to go into opposition. Their leader Colin Ellar lost his seat at the election and the party is now headed by Cllr. Jagdish Sharma. It would have been feasible for Labour to have retained a share of power by allying with the Liberal Democrats and the Hounslow Independent Alliance. Liberal Democrats now have 4 seats having won 5 at the election. This follows the party membership suspension of one of their newly elected councillors on election night and her subsequent defection to the HIA. At this point a coalition between Labour, the Lib Dems and the HIA appears to have been ruled out.

The other parties are understood to be in negotiations about the make-up of the Council Executive. The Conservatives will be the largest party with 23 seats. They would need the support of the Isleworth Community Group which has 6 seats as well as the Liberal Democrats with their four remaining Councillors.

Talks are being held between the leaders of the different political parties with the aim of having a new administration settled by the meeting of the Council on May 23rd.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Dakers has stated, "In the interests of Hounslow having a new elected administration (rather than the Chief Executive running Hounslow if there was no agreement between parties) we could abstain in the vote at the Council meeting on 23rd May.  For Hounslow to become a more open and honest council, it is important that the scrutiny process works far better than it has in the past under Labour.  It may be that this is where the Liberal Democrats are best placed to serve the interests of Hounslow residents."

In neighbouring Ealing the new leader of the Conservative Council is Jason Stacey. He committed to become an 'aggressive opponent' of the West London tram scheme.

May 16, 2006