Tim Barnes of the Conservatives

VOTERS stayed away as residents in two neighbourhoods were asked to go the polls for the third time in four months.

Election fatigue seemed an obvious factor as around 85 per cent of those eligible to take part failed to mark their cross in council ward by-elections in West End and Harrow Road last Thursday.

The elections were necessary because Labour councillors Jessica Toale and Tim Roca were elected to the parliament at the July 4 general election and waited to see the outcome of their campaigns before resigning from Westminster City Council.

The dismal turnout was not going to stop celebrations among the Tories, who gained a seat from the ruling Labour party with Tim Barnes’s triumph in West End ward. A thorn in Labour’s side he is back in the council chamber just two years after losing his seat at the 2022 boroughwide elections.

He was quick to poke London mayor Sadiq Khan with a warning that his ambition to pedestrianise Oxford Street did not have the support of people locally.

The issue has been difficult for Labour’s city council leader Adam Hug who has outlined his group’s concerns to the London mayor.

Cllr Barnes will now be sharing the ward with two Labour councillors, Peter Lilley and Paul Fisher.

But he said: “We have seen a big swing to the Conservatives in this by-election, and it really feels like it is part of a wider move and change of tide. Local people told us they were unhappy with Labour’s letting them down in Westminster and across London under the mayor.”

Regan Hook of Labour

He added: “Failings on crime, management of e-bikes and the astonishing recent announcement on Oxford Street pedestrianisation that rides roughshod over local democracy were all factors that were mentioned to us on the doorstep.

“I will now be picking these up and working to get them resolved when the current Labour councillors seem unwilling to criticise their party colleagues even when they know things are not working.”

Sadiq Khan’s previous attempt to ban traffic from Oxford Street ended in 2018 when the the council, then controlled by the Conservatives, refused to support the scheme.

Residents fear the plan will shift traffic, including double-decker bus routes, into their streets. That opposition has been retained by the new leaders of the council, who have their own plans to reshape the street without totally banning vehicles.

Jessica Toale, now the Labour MP for Bournemouth West, and Tim Roca, now the Labour MP for Macclesfield [UK Parlt CC by 3.0]

The Mayor released pictures last week of how the street could look without cars, but Labour organisers in Westminster were reportedly left angry about the lack of warning around the launch.

Labour is supposed to be enjoying the honeymoon period after its landslide victory at the general election which saw the party win in the “Two Cities” or the Cities of London and Westminster parliamentary constituency.

Fiona Parker, who failed to defend the West End seat, posted on X: “I’ve been proud to be the #Labour candidate in the West End by-election Disappointed to lose but we can hold up our heads for running a positive and decent campaign against relentless negativity from the Tories.”

The final score on the day turned out to be 1-1 as Labour comfortably held its territory in Harrow Road, Tim Roca’s now former ward.

Anything other than the result that unfolded would have been a really seismic shock and Regan Hook won a place on the council with the Tories back in fourth place.

She 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.

The loss of one seat does not change Labour’s overall control.

Only two parties have seats in the council chamber with Labour holding 30 and the Tories now on 24.

By-election results

West End ward
Tim Barnes, Conservatives 627 (elected)
Fiona Parker, Labour 489
Rajiv Sinha, Green Party 94
Phillip Kerle, Liberal Democrats 74
Turnout 16.7 per cent

Harrow Road ward
Regan Hook, Labour 512 (elected)
Faaiz Hasan, Green Party 244
Hoz Shafiei, Workers Party, For Britain, For Gaza 166
Jonathan Goff, Conservatives 162
Helen Toeman, Liberal Democrats 63
Abby-Jan Dharamsey Independent 11
Turnout: 14.6 per cent