The poll was prompted by the resignation of former borough finance chief Ammar Naqvi after Barnet Post revealed he’d fabricated his employment history, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Candidates for the Burnt Oak ward by-election with winner Charlotte Daus pictured on the right (credit Barnet Council)

The Labour candidate for Burnt Oak ward has won a by-election prompted by a disgraced former cabinet member’s resignation.

Charlotte Daus retained the seat for the borough’s ruling party after former councillor Ammar Naqvi quit last month, following revelations about his fabricated employment history.

The Labour candidate comfortably won the majority of votes cast in the by-election yesterday (Thursday 13th), getting over double the amount of the runner up, Conservative candidate Kevin Ghateh.

Of those who voted, 1,064 people backed Labour, 501 voted Conservative, 434 voted for Reform UK candidate Sury Khatri, who came in third, and 202 backed Green Party candidate Gabrielle Bailey in fourth place, with the Liberal Democrats and Rejoin EU finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

Turnout for the by-election was very low, with only 17.3% of the Burnt Oak’s 13,747 eligible voters casting their ballot.

Burnt Oak is a single-party ward with the other two seats being held by Labour’s Sara Conway and Kamal Bahadur.

This means the political composition of the council is now 40 Labour councillors, 19 Conservative and three independents, with one vacancy remaining.

The Finchley Church End ward by-election will be held on Thursday, 6th March.

Candidate	Party	Votes
Charlotte Elizabeth Daus	Labour	1,064
Kevin Kishar Ghateh	Conservative	501
Sury Khatri	Reform UK	434
Gabrielle Louise Bailey	Green Party	202
Altan Richard Akbiyik	Liberal Democrats	93
Charles Laurence Honderick	Rejoin EU London	68

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