Westminster City Council (1998–2006) Malthouse was elected to
Westminster City Council in May 1998, representing St George's ward. Following boundary changes, he was re-elected in May 2002 for the Warwick ward, which is also in Pimlico. Malthouse was appointed as Chief Whip of the Conservative Group, and following a change of leader to
Sir Simon Milton, he was appointed Chairman of the Social Services Committee. Two years later, he was elected Deputy Leader of the Council and became Cabinet Member for Finance. He retired from Westminster City Council at the May 2006 local elections. Malthouse challenged the results of the 2001 population
census, which he said seriously underestimated the population of the City of Westminster. Following a two-year battle with the
Office for National Statistics, the City of Westminster population was revised upwards by 10% and a review of future census methodology was commissioned. Malthouse argued against the introduction of the
London congestion charge, opposing it on the grounds that the idea should not be first introduced in the most populous city in England, and that London was already one of the most expensive cities to live in. As Deputy Leader of Westminster Council, Malthouse was responsible for agreeing to a £12.3 million settlement with
Shirley Porter over the £27 million surcharge, eventually raising to £42 million in costs and interest, imposed on her as a result of the Homes for Votes gerrymandering fraud scandal.
First term as a member of the London Assembly (2008–2012) On 26 March 2007, he was selected as the Conservative candidate for the
London Assembly seat of
West Central. The Assembly elections took place on 1 May 2008, and Malthouse received 53% of the vote. He was appointed Deputy Mayor for Policing two days later.
Deputy Mayor for Policing (2008–2012) Malthouse was appointed
Deputy Mayor of London for Policing by Mayor
Boris Johnson with effect from 6 May 2008. In October 2008 he was appointed Vice Chairman of the
Metropolitan Police Authority by Johnson. Malthouse was a member of the board of the
Association of Police Authorities, and the London Regional Resilience Forum. Malthouse introduced Met Forward, the Authority's strategic mission for London's police. Alongside the Mayor of London and the then Deputy Commissioner of Metropolitan Police, Malthouse released ‘Time for Action’ on 3 November 2008 in response to escalating concerns about youth violence in London. Malthouse campaigned against dangerous dogs across London. He also campaigned for changes to the
dangerous dogs legislation to introduce tougher punishments and worked with the CPS to reduce the long delays in the court process to reduce the kenneling costs. Malthouse campaigned against the presence of prostitution cards in telephone kiosks across London. He also devised the 2010 program 'The Way Forward – a plan for London to tackle violence against women and girls'. In March 2012, Malthouse was urged to resign by Labour MP
Chris Bryant for reportedly saying too many police resources were allocated to the investigation into press
phone hacking. While Deputy Mayor of London, Malthouse expressed concerns about the growing numbers of foxes and said: "People are afraid to let their small children play outside because of them. They are more and more worried about the number of foxes as numbers continue to grow." Following his election to Parliament, he stated that he would vote to repeal the
Hunting Act 2004, which bans the hunting of foxes with dogs. == Parliamentary career ==