Key Question
What is Reform UK doing with its first London borough?
Timeline for Havering
#15 3 Aug
Reform sheds 56 councillors since May
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Havering is a London borough in the capital's outer east, administered from Havering Town Hall in Romford. Reform UK took control of the council on 7 May 2026, its first council win in London.
The borough's early standing sits inside a wider pattern of instability across Reform's May 2026 intake nationally. Mark Pack's council by-election tracker recorded 56 lost councillors by early August 2026, through resignation, suspension and defection, a rate Pack judged unusually high for a party this soon after a landslide win.
The tracker does not break its figures out by council, so how much of that churn has reached Havering specifically is not established by the evidence available here.
Common Questions
What is Havering Council's 100-day plan?
Leader Keith Prince's plan, set out on 22 July 2026, prioritises stabilising finances, a long-term roadmap and visible improvements.Source: Your Thurrock
What London borough does Reform UK control?
Havering is Reform UK's first London borough, won on 7 May 2026 with 39 of 55 seats.Source: Wikipedia
How the World Sees Them
Rhun ap Iorwerth / Welsh Government (Plaid Cymru)
the outcomes it delivers
Michael Marra / Scottish Labour
Scots know what we are against. They can't tell you what we are for.
Andy Burnham / Labour Party
contest the next election with a manifesto commitment to change the electoral system so that everyone's vote counts and everyone's voice is heard
Reform UK
fully cooperate with the investigation
Steff Aquarone / Liberal Democrats (North Norfolk)
made to waste £600,000
Stephen Atkinson / Lancashire County Council (Reform UK)
the opportunity to challenge the July decision
Jim McMahon / Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
following updated legal advice
Democratic Unionist Party
goaded
Rupert Lowe / Restore Britain
Reform-sponsored media circus