Labour retains London council seat after by-election but only 1,158 bother to vote

Westminster Labour has retained the seat of Harrow Road in a by-election triggered by the resignation of a councillor elected as an MP in July’s General Election. Regan Hook won the Central London ward with 512 votes, double her closest rival, the Green’s Faaiz Hasan, who received 244 votes.

In third place was Hoz Shafiei from the Workers Party - For Britain, For Gaza with 166 votes and in fourth with 162 votes was the Conservatives’ Jonathan Goff.

Turnout for the September 19 election was 14.6 per cent. Tim Roca was one of two Westminster councillors successful in July’s General Election, winning the seat of Macclesfield. Jessica Toale was the other, a former West End councillor who was elected for Bournemouth West. Both resigned from the council following their victories.

READ MORE: 'It's good for our health': Shoppers react to Sadiq Khan’s Oxford Street pedestrianisation plan

Ms Toale’s seat was won by Tim Barnes, a former Westminster City Conservative councillor and candidate in the General Election, with 627 votes. In second place was Labour’s Fiona Parker with 489. In distant third was Rajiv Sinha with 94 votes.

The results bring Labour’s majority to 30 councillors and the Conservatives at 24. Westminster City Council is made up of 54 seats.

Ms Hook paid tribute to voters in her first post on X following the election result. She wrote: "Huge thanks to voters in #HarrowRoad ward for electing me as Councillor today. I'll do my very best for you! Bring it on!"

Westminster Conservatives leader cllr Paul Swaddle said the election result saw a "significant swing" against Labour in what he described as a safe seat. He said: "It's clear residents are already unhappy with the Labour Council and Government." The Green Party was contacted for comment.

Ms Hook has lived in the Harrow Road ward for 28 years and has a background in marketing and communications, including working for the charity Crimestoppers where she managed campaigns across London covering areas such as fraud and violence against women and girls. She has also held senior marketing roles at BT and the BBC.

Harrow Road by-election results

• Regan Hook, Labour Party - 512 (elected)

• Faaiz Hasan, Green Party - 244

• Hoz Shafiei, Workers Party - For Britain, For Gaza - 166

• Jonathan Mehdi James Goff, Conservative Party - 162

• Helen Toeman, Liberal Democrats - 63

• Abby-Jan Dharamsey, Independent - 11

Turnout: 14.6 per cent

Want more from MyLondon? Sign up to our daily newsletters for all the latest and greatest from across London here