Labour faces challenges from five other parties in the battle to replace former finance chief Ammar Naqvi reports David Floyd

Voters go to the polls tomorrow in a by-election in Burnt Oak ward.

The election was called following the resignation of former cabinet member for finance Ammar Naqvi, who left his role and the council following false claims about his employment record.

At the previous elections in 2022, Labour won all three seats in the ward by a convincing margin with Naqvi receiving the backing of 57.1% of those who voted and the Conservatives trailing well behind.

However, it seems likely that tomorrow’s result will be closer as six parties, compared to three in 2022, have candidates and the turnout – which was only 27.4% in the full council election – is expected to be very low.

Reform, which gained its first councillor in the borough in December when Mark Shooter defected from the Conservatives, is confident of a good result having done relatively well in the ward in the 2024 general election.

But the Greens have been targeting disaffected Labour voters in the ward and there are also some local residents who may use the contest to express a view on the Watling Avenue Car Park development.

It would be a major surprise if the result is anything other than a Labour victory but a relatively tight margin of victory is possible.

Information on how to vote is here.

The full candidate list is: Altan Akbiyik (Lib Dem), Gabrielle Bailey (Green), Charlotte Daus (Labour), Kevin Ghateh (Conservative), Charles Honderick (Rejoin EU), Sury Khatri (Reform UK).

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.