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.^[1]

Hillingdon has been under Conservative control, Labour control and no overall control since its establishment. The Conservatives have held control since the 2006 election, when they won 45 seats with 47.0% of the vote to Labour's 18 seats on 24.4% of the vote and the Liberal Democrats' 2 seats with 20.5% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats lost their representation on the council in 2010 and did not regain it in the subsequent council elections in 2014 or 2018. In the most recent election in 2018, the Conservatives won 44 seats with 54.2% of the vote while Labour won 21 seats with 38.5% of the vote. Among the other parties, the Green Party performed best with 4.9% of the vote across the borough. The incumbent council leader was reselected after the 2018 election, Ray Puddifoot, who had led the Conservative group since 2000.^[2]

Council term

A Conservative councillor for Hillingdon East, Pat Jackson, resigned in early 2020. A by-election to replace her was held on 27 February 2020, which was held for the Conservatives by Colleen Sullivan with a large swing from Labour.^[3] A Conservative councillor for Charville ward, Neil Fyfe, died in November 2020.^[4] He had represented the ward since 2010.^[5] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the by-election to fill his seat wasn't held until 6 May 2021 alongside the 2021 London mayoral election and London Assembly election. The seat was held for the Conservatives by Darran Davies, with the Labour candidate coming second.^[6] Puddifoot stood down as council leader in January, and was replaced by the Conservative councillor and former Metropolitan Police commander Ian Edwards.^[2]

Along with most London boroughs, Hillingdon will be electing councillors under new ward boundaries in 2022. Following local consultation, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England produced new boundaries reducing the number of councillors from 65 to 53 across twelve three-councillor wards with eight two-seat wards and one single-seat ward.^[7]

Belmore

Charville

Colham and Cowley

^[11]

Eastcote

Harefield Village

Hayes Town

Heathrow Villages

Hillingdon East

Hillingdon West

Ickenham and South Harefield

Northwood

^[12]

Northwood Hills

Pinkwell

Ruislip

Ruislip Manor

South Ruislip

Uxbridge

West Drayton

Wood End

Yeading

Yiewsley