Hounslow Council has announced a Brentford West Ward by-election, after former Labour councillor Lara Parizotto steps down from her seat.

In October 2023, Parizotto made the decision to leave the Labour Party due to her values not aligning with those of Labour - which came after Labour's advice on pro-Palestine protests at the time contradicted her stance.

Since then Parizotto was serving as an independent councillor for Brentford West having previously been a part of the Labour Party for eight years.

A by-election is triggered when a seat in the council becomes vacant between regular elections, with the next local elections scheduled to take place in 2026.

Brentford West Ward by-elections are due to take place on 2 May 2024 following Lara Parizotto's departure from Hounslow Council (credit: Cesar Medina).

Key Dates:

Tuesday 16 April 2024 at Midnight - This is the last date residents can register to vote to participate in the Brentford West ward by-election.

Wednesday 17 April 2024, by 5pm - This is the last day residents can apply for and return postal vote applications or make amendments to any existing voting arrangements. 

Wednesday 24 April 2024, by 5pm - This is the last day residents can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, if you do not have an accepted form of photo ID. It is also the day where residents can apply for and return proxy vote applications. 

Thursday 2 May 2024 - 7am to 10pm -  Voting day.

Hounslow Council has also removed Parizotto's cllr page from its website with an error message appearing when trying to access it.

Cllr for Brentford West and former colleague of Parizotto, Guy Lambert, told Nub News: "I am very sorry to lose my ward partner Lara as a councillor.

She has been, and I hope she will remain a very good friend as she has been a very active and capable councillor, including in the period when she had resigned from the Labour party and worked as an independent.

"Lara is herself an immigrant, though now a British citizen and her day job is as Executive Director of the Migrant Democracy Project of which she is a founder.

"This project encourages migrants to engage with our democracy, something which is close to her heart.

"The rights of oppressed people is at the top of her personal agenda and she felt obliged to support the habitants of Gaza, and felt she could not support the Labour party's approach to their plight.

"More recently, she decided not to continue longer as a councillor and decided to focus her energies on her work with migrants.

"All of these decisions were taken with admirable integrity and courage."

Cllr Lambert continued: "I will miss her friendship, warmth, industry and capability and whomever is elected on 2 May will have a challenging task to replace her.

"Fortunately there are excellent candidates in the Labour party and I will be supporting the Labour candidate, when selection has been undertaken.

"I wish Lara every success in the future, as her talent and character deserve, and I thank her for her professional and personal support – working with her has been a privilege."

To read Lara Parizotto's response as to why she resigned, click here.

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