Hounslow council has moved to no overall control, with Labour and Co-operative Party councillors together holding 31 of the borough’s 62 seats. The remaining 31 seats are held by other parties and independent councillors, leaving the Labour total below the 32 needed for a numerical majority in the full council.
The changed balance is visible in the council’s current member list. It records 22 councillors under Labour and nine under Labour and Co-operative Party. The other seats comprise 17 Conservatives, eight Reform UK councillors, three Green Party councillors, one Liberal Democrat, one Brentford & Isleworth Independent and one Independent. Together, those entries account for all 62 elected members.
Labour remains the largest grouping
The combined Labour total is still larger than that of any other party, but being the largest grouping is different from holding a majority. Thirty-one members represent half the council rather than more than half. The distinction matters when considering the administration’s position, although seat numbers alone do not determine the outcome of a particular meeting or proposal.
Councillor Shantanu Rajawat remains listed as Leader of the Council, with his party shown as Labour and Co-operative Party. No overall control therefore 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.
The 31 non-Labour seats are also spread across several political affiliations, rather than belonging to a single alternative grouping. 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. The new arithmetic should not be mistaken for a prediction of every future vote.
Heston East councillor remains in elected office
Councillor Gurbachan Athwal’s current profile gives his political designation as Independent and his ward as Heston East. His listed term runs from 11 May 2026 to 7 May 2030. The profile also records council appointments, including Borough Council, scrutiny panels, the Heston and Cranford Area Forum and licensing bodies.
His position illustrates the distinction between political affiliation and elected office. His Independent designation appears alongside his continuing councillor role and ward responsibilities. A changed party label on a member list is not itself the removal of a councillor from office. Heston East representation and the full council’s political balance are related, but different, aspects of the development.
Committee representation is a separate question
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. 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.
