# Harrow London Borough Council

Harrow London Borough Council /ˈhæroʊ/, also known as Harrow Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2022. Full council meetings are held at the Harrow Arts Centre and the council's main offices are at the Council Hub in Wealdstone.

## History

The first elected local authority for Harrow was a local board, established in 1850 covering the central part of the ancient parish of Harrow on the Hill. Such boards were reconstituted as urban district councils under the Local Government Act 1894.
The urban district was significantly enlarged in 1934, at which point it was renamed from 'Harrow on the Hill' to just 'Harrow'. Harrow Urban District was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1954, governed by a body formally called the "Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough of Harrow", generally known as the corporation or borough council.
The London Borough of Harrow and its council were created under the London Government Act 1963, with the first election held in 1964. For its first year the council acted as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing Harrow Borough Council, which covered the same area. The new council formally came into its powers on 1 April 1965. The council's full legal name is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Harrow".
From 1965 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the Greater London Council. The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the boroughs (including Harrow) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. As an outer London borough council Harrow has been a local education authority since 1965. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees.
Since 2000 the Greater London Authority has taken some responsibility for highways and planning control from the council, but within the English local government system the council remains a "most purpose" authority in terms of the available range of powers and functions.

## Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation, and has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It sets council tax and as a billing authority also collects precepts for Greater London Authority functions and business rates. It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. It is a local education authority and is also responsible for council housing, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.

## Political control

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2022.
The first election was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows:
| Party in control | Years |
| Conservative | 1965–1971 |
| No overall control | 1971–1974 |
| Conservative | 1974–1994 |
| No overall control | 1994–1998 |
| Labour | 1998–2002 |
| No overall control | 2002–2006 |
| Conservative | 2006–2010 |
| Labour | 2010–2013 |
| No overall control | 2013–2014 |
| Labour | 2014–2022 |
| Conservative | 2022–present |

### Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Harrow. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1965 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To |
| Charles Jordan | Conservative | 1965 | 1968 |
| Edward Buckle | Conservative | 1968 | 1971 |
| Cyril Harrison | Labour | 1971 | 1974 |
| Harold Mote | Conservative | 1974 | May 1977 |
| Edward Buckle | Conservative | 19 May 1977 | May 1979 |
| Brian Clark | Conservative | 17 May 1979 | May 1984 |
| Donald Abbott | Conservative | 17 May 1984 | 12 May 1987 |
| Ron Grant | Conservative | 12 May 1987 | 21 Oct 1991 |
| Donald Abbott | Conservative | 21 Oct 1991 | 1994 |
| Chris Noyce | Liberal Democrats | 1994 | 27 Apr 1995 |
| Andrew Wiseman | Liberal Democrats | 27 Apr 1995 | 25 Apr 1996 |
| Chris Noyce | Liberal Democrats | 25 Apr 1996 | May 1998 |
| Bob Shannon | Labour | 20 May 1998 | 28 Feb 2002 |
| Archie Foulds | Labour | 28 Feb 2002 | 13 Oct 2004 |
| Navin Shah | Labour | 21 Oct 2004 | May 2006 |
| Chris Mote | Conservative | 25 May 2006 | 8 May 2008 |
| David Ashton | Conservative | 8 May 2008 | May 2010 |
| Bill Stephenson | Labour | 25 May 2010 | 8 Nov 2012 |
| Thaya Idaikkadar | Labour | 8 Nov 2012 | 16 Sep 2013 |
| Susan Hall | Conservative | 16 Sep 2013 | May 2014 |
| David Perry | Labour | 12 Jun 2014 | 19 May 2016 |
| Sachin Shah | Labour | 19 May 2016 | 24 May 2018 |
| Graham Henson | Labour | 24 May 2018 | May 2022 |
| Paul Osborn | Conservative | 26 May 2022 | |

## Premises

The council has its main offices at the Council Hub on Kenmore Avenue in Wealdstone. The building was purpose-built for the council in 2022. Full council meetings are held at the Harrow Arts Centre in Hatch End, which also houses the mayor's parlour.
Prior to 2022 the council was based at Harrow Civic Centre on Station Road in Harrow, which had been purpose-built for the council, being completed in 1973.

## Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022, the council has comprised 55 councillors representing 22 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

## Councillors

As of 5 May 2022, the composition of Harrow Council is 31 Conservative councillors to 24 Labour councillors:
Harrow Councillors :
| Ward | Councillors | Party |
| Belmont | Mina Parmar | Conservative |
| Belmont | Anjana Patel | Conservative |
| Canons | Ameet Jogia | Conservative |
| Canons | Amir Moshenson | Conservative |
| Centenary | David Ashton | Conservative |
| Centenary | Govind Bharadia | Conservative |
| Centenary | Salim Chowdhury | Conservative |
| Edgware | Nicola Blackman | Conservative |
| Edgware | Nitin Parekh | Labour |
| Edgware | Yogesh Teli | Conservative |
| Greenhill | Ghazanfar Ali | Labour |
| Greenhill | Sue Anderson | Labour |
| Greenhill | Aneka Shah-Levy | Labour |
| Harrow on the Hill | Stephen Hickman | Labour |
| Harrow on the Hill | Eden Kulig | Labour |
| Harrow Weald | Ramji Chauhan | Conservative |
| Harrow Weald | Stephen Greek | Conservative |
| Harrow Weald | Pritesh Patel | Conservative |
| Hatch End | Matthew Goodwin-Freeman | Conservative |
| Hatch End | Susan Hall | Conservative |
| Headstone | Simon Brown | Labour |
| Headstone | Natasha Proctor | Labour |
| Headstone | Sasi Suresh | Labour |
| Kenton East | Chetna Halai | Conservative |
| Kenton East | Nitesh Hirani | Conservative |
| Kenton East | Samir Sumaria | Conservative |
| Kenton West | Vipin Mithani | Conservative |
| Kenton West | Kanti Rabadia | Conservative |
| Marlborough | Varsha Parmar | Labour |
| Marlborough | David Perry | Labour |
| Marlborough | Antonio Weiss | Labour |
| North Harrow | Christopher Baxter | Conservative |
| North Harrow | Janet Mote | Conservative |
| Pinner | Kuha Kumaran | Conservative |
| Pinner | Paul Osborn | Conservative |
| Pinner | Norman Stevenson | Conservative |
| Pinner South | June Baxter | Conservative |
| Pinner South | Hitesh Karia | Conservative |
| Pinner South | Jean Lammiman | Conservative |
| Rayners Lane | Thaya Idaikkadar | Conservative |
| Rayners Lane | Krishna Suresh | Labour |
| Roxbourne | Graham Henson | Labour |
| Roxbourne | Maxine Henson | Labour |
| Roxeth | Peymana Assad | Labour |
| Roxeth | Rashmi Kalu | Labour |
| Roxeth | Jerry Miles | Labour |
| Stanmore | Marilyn Ashton | Conservative |
| Stanmore | Phillip Benjamin | Conservative |
| Stanmore | Zak Wagman | Conservative |
| Wealdstone North | Shahania Choudhury | Labour |
| Wealdstone North | Phillip O'Dell | Labour |
| Wealdstone South | Kandy Dolor | Labour |
| Wealdstone South | Dean Gilligan | Labour |
| West Harrow | Asif Hussain | Labour |
| West Harrow | Rekha Shah | Labour |