History The thirty-two
London boroughs were established in 1965 by the
London Government Act 1963. They are the principal authorities in Greater London and have responsibilities including education, housing, planning, highways, social services, libraries, recreation, waste, environmental health and revenue collection. Some of the powers are shared with the
Greater London Authority, which also manages passenger transport, police and fire. Since its formation, Brent has been variously under
Labour control,
no overall control and
Conservative control. Only Labour, Conservative and
Liberal Democrat councillors have been elected to the council. The council has had an overall Labour majority since the
2010 election, in which Labour won 40 seats, the Liberal Democrats won 17 and the Conservatives won six. The Liberal Democrats lost all but one of their seats in the
2014 election before losing their final seat in the most recent election in
2018. The 2018 result saw Labour win 60 seats with 57.6% of the overall vote, and the Conservatives win three with 22.5% of the overall vote. The Liberal Democrats received 12.6% of votes across the borough and the
Green Party received 5.6% of the vote, but neither won any seats. The incumbent leader of the council is Muhammed Butt, who has held that position since 2014.
Council term Michael Pavey, a Labour councillor for Barnhill ward, resigned in November 2019, citing family reasons. In May 2016, while serving as deputy leader of the council, he had unsuccessfully challenged Butt for the leadership of the council. Another Labour councillor for the same ward, Sarah Marquis, resigned days later, citing family and personal reasons. A Labour councillor for Wembley Central ward, Luke Patterson, resigned in the same month citing personal reasons. By-elections to replace all three, in addition to James Allie, a Labour councillor for Alperton who resigned, were held on 23 January 2020. Allie was reportedly suspended from the party. The other three by-elections were all held by Labour on reduced majorities. In 2021, a Labour councillor for Brondesbury Park, Kieron Gill, resigned, declining to explain his reasons. Earlier in 2021 he had been the only Labour councillor to abstain on the council budget. The by-election was held on 6 May 2021, on the same date as the
2021 London mayoral and
London Assembly elections. Earlier that week, the Labour candidate Abdirazak Abdi resigned from the Labour group to sit as an independent councillor. The new boundaries comprise thirteen three-councillor wards and nine two-councillor wards. == Electoral process ==