Moving Forward from Scandals and Missed Targets
Hounslow's Labour leader says his party can be trusted on its pledges
Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, leader of Hounslow Council. Picture: MyLondon/Facundo Arrizabalaga
May 6, 2026
In Hounslow, Councillor Shantanu Rajawat has been the Leader of the Council since 2022.
Ahead of the local elections taking place on May 7, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) interviewed Cllr Rajawat to ask about his plans for Hounslow if Labour maintain control of the council, after a rocky few months for the controlling group.
Cllr Rajawat says continuing the work Labour has been doing across the last four years is his top priority for Hounslow. This includes continuing to create opportunities for young people through jobs, apprenticeships and skills.
He added: “I think tackling environmental issues like fly-tipping, carrying on doing that, bringing down the cost, making it as easy, but really still signalling that we are very tough for those that choose to be messy in our borough.”
Another key priority for Cllr Rajawat is an “absolute focus” on growth, which he says will underpin the future economy of the council, and put it in the position to deliver his first two priorities.
Hounslow Labour has pledged to deliver 2,500 new social and affordable homes by 2030 should the party remain in control after May 7. However, Hounslow Labour missed its own promise made at the last election to deliver 1,000 council homes by 2026.
When asked what went wrong, and how residents can trust Labour to stick to the new pledge, Cllr Rajawat said: “So whilst we acknowledge that the thousand has been missed and I’m not going to sit here and say to you no you’re absolutely wrong… That doesn’t mean that we stop aspiring to build more.”
In 2022, Hounslow Labour said it would reduce fly-tipping by 25 per cent. However, despite a one-size-fits-all £1,000 fine for fly-tipping in Hounslow, rates increased over a four-year period from 25,000 to 27,000 incidents.
Fast forward to 2026, and Cllr Rajawat is promising to clear fly-tipping within 24 hours of a report being made. When asked how residents can trust this pledge, he said: “So there is a distinction there isn’t there…
“It’s the number of cases reported versus the collection… What you’re highlighting is the deeper problem that is happening across London. You know, it’s not isolated to Hounslow.”
The manifesto also includes large spending pledges, such as over £150million to improve council estates, and £11million for SEND provision. When asked how the council can afford to deliver this, Cllr Rajawat explained that the fairer funding agreement with the government has allowed space to create these initiatives.
However, the fairer funding agreement assumes all councils will increase council tax by the maximum 4.99 per cent each year. Cllr Rajawat told the LDRS it is not certain he would increase by the maximum amount each year.
He added: “We will look at local circumstances. We’ll look at the economy as we always do before we make that decision [on council tax].”
In April, the LDRS exclusively revealed that Labour councillor, Farhaan Rehman, had breached the council constitution after he parked a Lamborghini in a disabled parking bay and failed to declare interests in three companies. Despite this, he was re-selected to stand for Labour in Hounslow Heath – something Cllr Rajawat says was entirely out of his hands.
Questioning Cllr Rajawat on this decision, he said, “We have to get away from bashing politicians for mistakes that they make. We have to accept that he has made an apology and the residents of Hounslow Heath will make their judgment.”
He added, “He is a first time councillor, and that’s not me trying to make excuses on his behalf, but I know as a brand new councillor, I made a number of mistakes. You just don’t understand the system.
“You want to learn it and learn from it. I know in conversations that I’ve had with him since, he has learned from it.”
Other recent controversies include Hounslow Council being accused of misleading the public over whether any investigations into grooming gangs had occurred in the borough, and a second councillor parking in a disabled bay. The same councillor, Hina Mir, was then suspended by Labour after employing an illegal worker in her home.
Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
Election Information
Details of the candidates standing in each ward are available on the Hounslow Council web site..
The elections will take place on Thursday 7 May.
Polling stations will open from 7am until 10pm and friendly polling station staff will be on hand throughout the day to support voters with any accessibility needs.
Those voting in person, must remember to bring photo ID to vote. A full list of Accepted photo ID is listed on the Electoral Commission website.
Poll cards are not needed to vote, but they show the voter’s polling station address. This is useful as some polling stations have changed since the last election. Voters can check their polling station location, on the Hounslow Council website by entering their postcode.
Presenting a polling card can also help to make the voting process quicker and reduce waiting times.
Postal voters in Hounslow who want to hand deliver their completed postal votes can do so at the main reception in Hounslow House, TW3 3EB, or at a polling station in their ward, before 10pm on Thursday, 7 May.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |