A former Labour cllr has beaten his old party as an independent in a West London by-election. Theo Dennison won the Syon & Brentford Lock seat on Hounslow Council after former cllr Balarj Sarai was forced to resign for failing to attend meetings. However, in Brentford East, Labour held the seat, with Reform finishing second.
The newly elected independent Cllr Dennison was a Labour cllr between 2010 and 2022 for the Syon Ward, however he resigned due to disagreements with the party. He told the
Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I broke with them for the same issues I was fighting this by-election on. They were raising the council tax, cutting the council tax reduction scheme and raising their own allowances. That’s what came up on doorsteps.
“People see this sort of thing from people in positions of responsibility and it distresses them… the council no longer has an interest in satisfying people because it didn’t think it needed to. I think the message is that you need to listen to the voters. It cannot be that the council is allowed to continue raising the council tax and cutting the scheme for some of the poorest households, with no regard for the impact of these things.”
Cllr Dennison has previously worked as a parliamentary staffer for George Galloway. Mr Galloway congratulated the newly elected cllr for Syon & Brentford Lock in a social media post.
He said: “Congratulations to the new Councillor for Hounslow, my former parliamentary staffer Theo Dennison! Congratulations my good friend.”
The previous cllr, Balaraj Sarai, was forced to resign in January. Despite receiving his £12,000 allowance, Mr Sarai failed to attend 75% of council meetings he was expected at.
The full results for Syon & Brentford Lock
Jack Piers Ballentyne (Liberal Democrats) – 102
Theo Christopher Dennison (Independent) – 615
Michael Denniss (Conservative) – 150
Chinmay Kishor Parulekar (Reform UK) – 149
Jennifer Prain (Labour) – 603
Freya Caroline Summersgill (Green) – 218
Meanwhile the Labour party managed to retain Brentford East despite a historically low turnout as only two candidates managed to achieve more than 100 votes. Cllr Max Mosley replaces former cllr Rhys Williams. Mr Williams announced plans to resign earlier this year to spend more time with his family. Reform UK beat the Conservatives to second place, however Labour won comfortably.
The full results for Brentford East
Christine Cunniffe (Conservative) – 99
David Elliot Kerr (Reform UK) – 197
Max Mosley (Labour) – 430
Bernice Elaine Roust (Liberal Democrats) – 79
Rashid Wahab (Green) – 89
