Could Labour Lose in Brentford West?

Watermans, housing and council governance key issues in by-election

The candidates from top left clockwise: Freya Summergill, Emma Yates, Theo Dennison and Mike Denniss

April 26, 2024

As well as voting in the Mayoral and Greater London Assembly Elections next Thursday (2 May), residents of Brentford West will also be asked to select a new councillor.

The ward, which roughly speaking is bounded by Boston Manor Playing Fields in the north, the River Brent in the west, Ealing Road in the East and Albany Road in the south has an electorate of 5992.

The seat was vacated following the resignation of Lara Parizotto who stepped down for personal and work-related reasons. She was elected in May 2022 with nearly half voting for her as a Labour candidate. She subsequently left the part due to a range of differences on policy.

The last time out was the first time an election had been held in this new ward but historically the area has tended towards Labour. However, rival candidates will be looking to exploit a number of issues of local concern and pull off what would be a shock result. A turnout of below the 36% seen at the last election could mean that the result could be determined by a relatively small number of votes.

The Labour candidate Emma Yates, who works as an assistant to Seema Malhotra the MP for Feltham and Heston, got her campaign off to a flying start with Mayor of London joining her to canvas in the area on Saturday 30 March but since then she seems to have adopted quite a low profile.

Watermans has become the main issue in the by-election and Ms Yeates and current Labour councillors attracted criticism for not attending a recent community meeting organised by a campaign to save the centre. The Labour Party is saying that detailed discussions are already taking place with community groups about a ‘meanwhile’ use for the centre but, due to their complexity, it is too early at this stage to release more details.

The Green Party was second last time out and will be looking to increase its vote from an impressive 29.3% in 2022. Freya Summersgill, who has a PhD in civil engineering and will also be the party’s candidate in Brentford & Isleworth at the next general election, said, “There is real anger in the local community about the sudden closure of Watermans Arts Centre before the replacement is even under construction. One of my top priorities is to find a way to save Watermans so Brentford residents continue to have local access to the arts and to this community building. There is disappointment in the Labour response, that the community led protest against the closure is a ‘waste of time’, that Labour councillors and MPs did not attend a public meeting organised by the community to discuss the closure on Saturday 6 April and the continued secrecy around ongoing ‘meanwhile use’ discussions.”

She also pledged to focus on issues such as litter, affordable housing and the continued provision of ample shops and health services across the ward.

Independent councillor and former Labour councillor Theo Dennison has also been fiercely critical of Labour over Watermans and what he describes as the imposition of a candidate living in Bedfont on a Brentford ward by the Council Leader Shantanu Rajawat. He describes his leadership style as ‘increasingly monarchical’ and accuses his of using the allocation of paid councillor posts to bolster his control of the local party.

Mr Dennison managed to come fourth in a three-seat contest in Syon & Brentford Lock at the last local elections less than two hundred votes behind the third placed Labour candidate.

Michael Denniss will be contesting the seat for the Conservatives again having finished fourth in the two-seat ward in May 2022. Like other his focus has been on Watermans and he posted on social media, “The Watermans was my and many others' first experience of theatre. It's a beacon of culture and excellence for Brentford. As the @CBIConservative candidate I'll do everything I can to save the Watermans.”

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.

Your polling station address should be printed on your polling card, which is delivered by post before an election.

If you don't have a poll card, you need to contact your local council. You can call London Borough of Hounslow on 020 8583 2828 or visit its website.

Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm.