Boris Johnson hailed the victory in Harrow Council by the Conservative Party for the first time in 16 years. Whilst the Conservatives lost close to 500 seats in the local elections, Harrow bucked the national trend and won 31 out of the 55 contested seats.
Harrow is one of the most diverse boroughs in the UK, with at least 88 different languages spoken with Gujarati being the second most common. A key contributory factor was engaging with the diverse communities in Harrow. Paul Osborn the new leader of the Council ‘putting residents first and recognising the strength of diversity in the Borough is why we won the election.’
The swing to the Conservatives likely represents a generational shift of British Indian voters putting their faith in the Conservative party. Boris Johnson’s visit to Gujarat in India in April 2022, marked the importance of the impact the British Indian and Gujarati diaspora have had to the British Economy.
The Conservative Party now has 12 British Indian Councillors in Harrow, the highest in the country. Cllr Mina Parmar, was elected for the third time in Belmont Ward. Born in Kenya and of Indian origin, Cllr Mina Parmar said ‘it is a great honour to serve the residents of the community where I have lived for over 40 years. I take pride in my role and I’m passionate to engage with residents so we can make improvements to Harrow and deliver on our pledges.’
The Conservative Party won all three seats in Kenton East and both in Kenton West. Cllr Mina Parmar a Senior Member of the new Council team also said, “Harrow now has the opportunity under the new Conservative leadership to transform the services for our local residents. The hard work starts now, but I can’t wait to get started.”
