Councillor Resignation Forces Brentford West By-election
Lara Parizotto stands down after less than two years
Last year Cllr Parizotto declined the party's request to remove social media posts of her attending pro-Palestine marchs
March 21, 2024
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Hounslow Council has announced that there is to be a by-election in the Brentford West ward following the resignation of Lara Parizotto for 'work and personal reasons'.
The vote will be held on Thursday 2 May the same day as the Mayoral and Greater London Assembly elections.
Brazilian-born Ms Parizotto resigned from the Labour Party last year in protest over a number of issues including the policy on Gaza.
She had come to this country on her own in her teens and had worked as a cleaner to fund her A Levels which gained her a place to study politics at Cambridge. The experience made her an advocate for migrants and she joined the Labour Party in 2015 winning the Brentford West seat in May 2022.
She was an early participant in marches calling for a ceasefire in Gaza well before the Labour Party was willing to support this policy. She says that she was asked to delete social media post showing her at marches by members of the Hounslow Labour Group which was a significant reason for her split with the party.
Ms Parizotto said after the announcement that it had been an honour to represent Brentford residents adding, "I will forever champion Brentford and I am as active as ever in politics.
"I am working with residents and councillors for a smooth transition."
She continued, “Being a councillor has not only meant a lot to me personally but has also been an important point of community representation. Since getting elected, I’ve had the amazing chance to engage with Brazilian and other migrant residents across the UK who got informed and encouraged for the first time ever to register to vote, learn about their council, and even consider standing for election themselves. This is core to why I wanted to get elected. Not only to passively represent but to actively talk about matters affecting marginalised people and build shared power from the ground up.”
She expressed particularly gratitude to her fellow Brentford West ward councillor, Guy Lambert, who she describe as her 'friend, greatest council mentor, and my champion.'
Registered electors in the Brentford West ward who are British, Irish, European Union or qualifying Commonwealth citizens and are 18 years old or older on Thursday 2 May 2024 can vote in the by-election.
You must register to vote by Tuesday 16 April and Wednesday 17 April is the last day you can apply for and return your postal vote application or make amendments to any existing voting arrangements. Wednesday 24 April is the last day you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, if you do not have an accepted form of photo ID.
The Labour Party has chosen Emma Yates, who contested Chiswick Gunnersbury ward at the last election, as its candidate.
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