The 2026 council and mayoral elections are fast approaching, and voters in Hounslow will soon be heading to the polls.
Who can you vote for and what’s going on in the area?
Here is our guide to everything you need to know ahead of election day on 7 May…
Where is Hounslow?
The Borough of Hounslow is in west London just north of the River Thames and borders the boroughs of Richmmond upon Thames, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hillingdon.
Voters will elect a total of 62 councillors across 22 wards, with each ward electing two to three councillors.
What happened in the last election?
In the 2022 elections Labour held control of the council with 51 seats and won one of the two new seats since the boundary changes.
Labour – 52 (+1)
Conservatives – 10 (+1)
Liberal Democrats – 0 (+0)
Labour has held overall control in the borough since 2010 and had been winning more and more seats from the Conservatives each time.
Since the last elections in 2022 there has been various changes to the landscape of the wards.
Lasy year saw a number of defections, resignations and by-elections in the council.
Independent Theo Dennison won a by-election seat from Labour in the Syon and Brentford Ward.
Guy Lambert, a councilor for Brentford West, defected from Labour to the Greens to become the borough’s first Green councillor.
Another Labour councillor, Karamat Malik, defected to the Conservatives. The council also gained its first Reform seat when Bandna Chopra defected to the party after being de-selected by Labour.
Other councilors have since resigned from their parties and now sit on the council as independents.
Going into this year’s elections the council is comprised as follows:
Labour – 41
Conservatives – 10
Independent – 6
Green – 1
Reform – 1
Vacant – 3
What are the local issues?
While there are London-wide issues that candidates may be focusing on such as the cost-of-living, campaigns in Hounslow seem to be focused on specific local issues in each ward.
These are issues like the Heathrow expansion, fly-tipping and cleaner streets, case by case developments, division over Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, and SEND provision.
Who are the ones to watch?
Polls are showingLabour are expected hold the council and conservatives may retain many of their usual seats.
However, the Greens could be set to win some seats from the Conservatives in the east wards such as Chiswick Riverside and Chiswick Homefields.
Recent polling also suggests that Reform could take a seat in Hanworth Park and that Independent Theo Dennison could hold his seat in Syon and Brentford Lock.
A full list of candidates can be found on Hounslow Council’s website.
Interesting facts about Hounslow
The population of Hounslow is around 288,200 and 44% is white or white British, with 36% being Asian or Asian British.
Over 60% of households in the borough are made up of families
Featured Image: Sunil Prasannan/Wikimedia Commons
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