Labour lost control of Brent Council as the election resulted in no party having overall control, with a record number of swings announced across their 22 wards.
Moreover, Welsh Harp and Wembley Hill were recounted due to the tight vote numbers, delaying the result.
The historically Labour borough, since 1998, saw a huge shift and while the party still have the most councillors with 26, they fell three short of the required majority.
Of the 57 councillors, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives both ended up with 11 and the Greens with 9.
Whilst seat losses for Labour were expected mainly due to growing unpopularity for the national Labour government, Brent was predicted to remain red.
However, with a 3.5% increase in borough-wide vote turnout from 30.7% in 2022 to 34.2% in 2026, the population’s vote turned a widely red map, multicoloured.
Newly elected Green candidate in Kilburn, Suzanne Gallagher said: “I am absolutely thrilled.
“What I’m most proud of is the high turnout we had in Kilburn.
“To have such an active, engaged electorate in Kilburn is something that I’m deeply, deeply proud of.”
Wembley Central saw a huge swing too from Labour to Liberal Democrats, with Hetal Jansali relaying an emotional celebration for their feat.
She said: “I’m on top of the world. The hard work starts now to make Wembley a better place to live.”
Her plans focused on the distribution of adequate bins in the area and pothole fixing.
The Conservatives gained six seats in the borough, leaving the two newly elected Conservative councillors for Preston, Michael David Maurice and Harshadbhai Patel, satisfied with the result.
They said: “We’re elated, absolutely elated. We were very nervous, but we did it!”
Labour seemed to gain a bit of energy during and after the announcement of their hold in Roundwood, Stonebridge, Kingsbury, Brondesbury Park, amongst others, but Brent ultimately joined the list of a day of nationwide losses.
Jake Rubin, Roundwood ward, said: “It was a really tough campaign.
“Fair play to the Greens, they worked really hard, but there was a strong Labour vote for a cleaner, safer, more affordable Brent.”
As the last few wards were announced it became clear numerically, the result was no overall control.
At the prospects of the next four years being less than simple the energy in the room became more dim.
But elected councillors were pleased and the overall atmosphere was calm.
With such an array of parties spread throughout Brent, it is clear the loss for Labour was larger than first anticipated.
You can check out all of North West Londoner’s 2026 local election here.
Feature Image Credit: Siena Westcott-Toi
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