Dan Thomas had been opposition leader since 2022 after previously being council leader for three years, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Former Conservative council leader Dan Thomas has announced he is stepping down as opposition group leader in Barnet.

In a statement this week on social media, Cllr Thomas said that following the birth of his son he’d decided to step down as leader of the Conservative group at Barnet Council.

This will be made official at the group’s annual general meeting today (Thursday 16th) when a new leader will be elected by Conservative councillors.

Cllr Thomas led the council from May 2019 to May 2022, when the Conservatives lost the local election to Labour, which won 41 of the borough’s 63 seats. This was the first time Labour had taken outright control of the council.

Since then, Cllr Thomas has led the opposition group, which he described as a “great privilege”. He also thanked his Tory colleagues and local party members for their support.

However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that the announcement this week surprised many local Conservatives.

Cllr Thomas told the LDRS: “I made the announcement [informally, not publicly] just after Easter, it may have been a surprise to some.

“I’d only at that point come to the conclusion I wasn’t going to stand in 2026 [as a councillor], that decision was quite recent, so members of my group may well have been surprised and not suspected it, it’s not something I’d been talking about before then.”

Cllr Thomas reiterated that his reason for stepping down was a change in personal circumstances, after he became a father for the first time 18 months ago, and that he wanted to focus on being a dad.

“I want to see out the rest of my term that ends in 2026 and as I’m not standing in that election I can’t carry on as group leader,” he said. “That’s the main reason for me stepping down at this time.”

Deciding that halfway through the term of office was a good time to handover to someone else, Cllr Thomas confirmed a choice would be made this evening on who would lead the group.

In terms of the 2026 local election, he added: “In 2021 we won a seat from Labour in a by-election in East Barnet, a lot can change in a year’s time, I think it depends on the national picture.

“I think we have got the ability as a group to take control in 2026 and I think this is a good time for someone to take control as group leader.”

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