Electioneering for next year’s council elections has already begun with two independent candidates announcing their campaign.

Independent councillor Husain Akhtar has launched his election campaign for next May’s election and has announced he plans to run in Wealdstone ward, moving from his current seat in Cannons.

Joining Cllr Akhtar, under the banner of the Wealdstone Independents, will be Dr Pravin Shah who was previously member of the Harrow Labour party.

Cllr Akhtar said: “Wealdstone needs strong and effective representation and we will campaign for community issues and speak out for the area.

“Residents have been let down in the area, and Wealdstone remains the least well developed area in the borough.”

“We need to serve the area more actively, which it has not been done before. I think people are losing faith in political parties to represent them and residents have come to us asking for help.

“Wealdstone has been forgotten about and people in the area need representatives who are not tied in to political parties and we will be able to champion the area and its residents.”

The ward is a Labour stronghold and the three seats are currently held by councillors Keith Ferry, Phillip O’Dell and Rekha Shah.

In July this year Cllr Akhtar resigned from Harrow Borough Council's Independent Labour group and administration, after playing an instrumental role in its creation earlier in the year.

This latest announcement as a Wealdstone Independent is not the first time the councillor has moved politically.

After being elected as a Conservative member in 2007, he left the party in November last year to become an independent councillor .

He then switched to the Labour Party in March this year, but in June was one of the nine councillors to break away to form the Independent Labour Group, which took control of the authority with backing from Conservatives.