This article originally appeared on LBC on 18 December. You can read in full here.
We end up with officials who are in office, but not in power. That, in a nutshell, is where we find ourselves in Westminster in 2025.
During the Brexit referendum, we often heard about the need to ‘take back control’. The idea that unelected bureaucrats could decide the fate of our country was anathema to many and, well, we know what happened next.
Regardless of your views on Brexit, it was very difficult to challenge this fundamental demand that there should be as direct a link as possible between decision-makers and their electorates.
What we neglected for years, however, was the similar threat posed within our own domestic institutions when politicians – through idleness, recklessness or incompetence – fail to live up to the demands of their office and challenge the unelected bureaucracies that exist here in our own country. Where politicians fail to lead, the vacuum they leave will be filled by others.
As a Conservative Westminster City Councillor, I have seen first-hand the problems that arise when elected politicians fail to lead. Poor management and leadership have led to bad deals for Westminster’s residents: on crime, Oxford Street and housing, just to name a few.
Take crime and anti-social behaviour in central London as an example. In the past three years of Labour’s Westminster council, illegal tents have sprung up across the borough.
The most obvious example of this was on Park Lane, where months of pressure from local Conservative councillors finally kicked TfL into gear. But every time a possession order was issued, the tents would be removed momentarily, only to return again.
The Labour Council responded that their officers needed time to undertake “outreach”. This was despite residents telling us about the clear link between illegal tents on Park Lane and low-level criminal activity in the West End. This was not a homelessness issue (an issue of much importance) but rather a deliberate attempt by a few to evade the law.
Over the last four years, crime in central London has risen – petty theft, violence against the person and drugs are all up in Sadiq Khan’s London. There are reports of the growth of synthetic opioids in the centre of our capital. But when asked what the Council’s plans are to address this, they point to CCTV as a panacea.
There is no strategy to address crime on the streets of Westminster. Indeed, when the linked issue of illegal encampments on Park Lane was mentioned to the Labour Mayor of London, he conflated two entirely separate issues and responded that London welcomed “migration”.
What about Oxford Street, where Sadiq Khan wants to create a ‘legacy’ despite years of failure? In September 2025, following officers' advice, the Labour administration surrendered Oxford Street to the Mayor so he could pedestrianise it.
It does not matter where you stand on the debate about pedestrianisation. As a point of principle, if you’re a Westminster resident, you would want your local council to stand up for your interests. Sometimes that requires a fight.
The Labour council didn’t want to cause a fuss with their own mayor, so they gave up. Worse than that, the administration designated this as a ‘non-key’ decision, meaning Councillors could not call it in for proper, meaningful scrutiny. The Conservative Group specifically asked them to push back on this, but the answer came back negative: “computer says no.”
Then we have Labour’s astonishing £27million affordable housing failure. In September 2022, the Council’s cabinet members signed off on contracts for affordable housing with Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, a contractor that was on the verge of going bust. They were warned of the high risk of insolvency, but they signed the contracts in any event because officers advised them to do so.
As LBC reported earlier this week, the consequence was up to £27 million in wasted taxpayer money. An extraordinary sum that should be spent on cleaning our streets, policing, schools or social care. The Labour council should be warned: this issue will not go away, and we are determined to hold them to account.
Where does all of this leave us? In May 2026, local elections will give Westminster residents the opportunity to cast their verdict on this failing Labour Council by voting for a Conservative administration. Westminster’s residents and taxpayers deserve better.
Between now and then, the Conservatives in Westminster will continue to hold Labour to account, so decision-makers know that where they jeopardise public money and interests through a failure of leadership, we will call them out.
This article originally appeared on LBC on 18 December. You can read in full here.
