Another London Labour councillor has quit the party, adding to the growing wave of defections since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.
Hounslow councillor Vickram Grewal announced on Saturday that he was joining the Conservatives, accusing Labour of financial “mismanagement.”
Mr Grewal, who was elected in 2018 and represents the Cranford ward, said Hounslow Labour had “driven the borough to the brink,” criticising depleted town hall reserves, internal infighting and “vanity projects.”
More than a dozen Labour councillors across London have defected to the Conservatives, Greens, Lib Dems or independent alliances over the past year, while the party has also suffered a series of by-election defeats in the capital.
Mr Grewal said he could no longer support Labour’s “chaotic” handling of finances locally or nationally, claiming the Government had imposed the biggest tax rise in 30 years and allowed borrowing to spiral.
His move comes as Labour continues to face resignations from councillors dissatisfied with the party’s direction under Sir Keir, particularly on issues such as Gaza, spending and internal governance.
“This month’s Budget will be even worse, and, just as we’ve seen in Hounslow, Labour’s mismanagement is hitting the families and businesses I was elected to represent,” Mr Grewal , who had been selected as the Labour candidate for Chiswick Homefields at May’s local elections, added.
The Green Party has accepted most of the dissillusioned Labour councillors in recent months. Rotherhithe councillor Kath Whittam defected to the Southwark Greens earlier in November.
Lewisham councillor Liam Shrivastava and Haringey councillor Mark Blake over the summer blamed what they described as the Labour’s shift to the right under the Prime Minister for their defections.
Ex Lambeth Labour councillor Martin Abrams also left for the Greens in September. He was suspended from Labour last year for supporting a motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Three Barking and Dagenham councillors formed the first political opposition to Labour in the borough in over a decade in September.
Moin Quadri, Victoria Hornby and Faruk Choudhury said they had become uncomfortable with Labour “refusing to take a principled stand on Gaza” and “adopting divisive anti-immigration rhetoric" as they joined the Greens.
Two Hammersmith and Fulham Labour councillors - Trey Campbell-Simon and Liz Collins - also resigned from Labour in July and joined the Greens, citing Sir Keir’s rightward shift.
Labour has also lost several council by-elections in the capital since the party’s general election landslide win.
The Lib Dems stormed to victory in the West Hampstead seat on Camden Council in the Prime Minister’s backyard in August.
Pro-Gaza Independent Noor Jahan Begum won the Redbridge Council seat vacated by the borough’s former leader, Jas Athwal, amid grassroots anger at the Government in March.
Independent Theo Dennison, who had previously worked for George Galloway’s parliamentary office, won the Syon and Brentford Lock seat on Hounslow Council by just 12 votes in a vote the same month.
Labour lost a central London by-election to the Tories amid the row over London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plans for Westminster and concerns about traffic changes in February.
Gareth Bacon, shadow minister for London, said: "The Labour government have been in power for just 16 months, but already their disastrous handling of the economy can be felt the length and breadth of the country, with inflation double what it should be, unemployment rising, taxes at record levels, business confidence through the floor, borrowing and spending out of control.
“With a dismal budget on the horizon and the government determined to press ahead with their disastrous Employment Rights Bill, things are only going to get even worse.
“But people are waking up to this and it is not too late to start to fix the damage. Councillor Grewal’s defection is evidence of this. I warmly welcome his arrival as part of the London Conservative family."
