By Adam Shaw
LABOUR held onto the third seat in a tightly contested ward to maintain its 55-councillor majority in Brent.
Gwen Grahl was elected to represent Brondesbury Park after securing 1,871 votes in Thursday’s (6) by-election. She beat her nearest competitor – Conservative candidate Sapna Chadha – by 644 votes.
Green Party candidate Sheila Simpson collected 469 ballots, while the Liberal Democrats’ Philip Alexander received 448.
Grahl joins Labour councillors Tony Ethapemi and Erica Gbajumo in serving Brondesbury Park, and it means Labour now have 59 councillors in Brent, with three Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat making up the opposition.
“I’m really honoured to be elected as a councillor in my community and I thank people for putting their trust in me,” she said.
“I’d like to thank all those who campaigned for me – this was a real grassroots effort, and this victory is for them.”
Cllr Muhammed Butt (Lab, Tokyngton), leader of Brent Council, said the margin of victory, compared to that in 2018’s borough-wide local elections, shows his party have been working hard for residents in the area.
He said he was delighted to see Ms Grahl elected and believes she will be “a true voice for the community”.
“Gwen is from the community, lives in Brondesbury and has been working hard to make sure she gets elected,” he said.
“For me to have her as part of the Labour administration is something that I truly value – she will add to the (Labour) group and the community in Brent.
“Even though I may have a large majority, we should never, ever be complacent, and I thank everyone who came out to support Gwen.”
(Local Democracy Reporting Service)
