Shiva Tiwari shakes hands with Tory leader Steve Adams as he switches from Labour to the Conservatives

A MINI-earthquake was rumbling at the Town Hall last night (Wednesday) after a Labour councillor told the party he was quitting to join the Tories.

Shiva Tiwari, who has represented West Hampstead for seven years, said he felt there was no room for debate in the ruling group and that the party had moved away from his own values, and that in Camden it was “supporting a minority leftist political agenda”.

Speaking for the first time about his switch, he told the New Journal that it had been a tough decision which he had “considered deeply” and that he held no ill feeling towards the councillors he was leaving behind.

But he added: “At the national level, I just don’t think the Labour Party stands any more for the values that I strongly believe in around supporting hard-working families and small and medium-sized businesses to drive economic growth. This is the only path to creating prosperity for everyone – enabling proper public services and good government.”

Cllr Tiwari added: “At a local level, I’ve always fought really hard for West Hampstead residents because that’s what I believe to be the core duty and I no longer feel I can I do that in the Labour Party because there isn’t room or respect for sensible debate or different views.

“Instead of focusing on delivering the best possible quality of life for all in our borough, I think it is pursuing a minority leftist political agenda.

“For me that’s not the job. The main job of a councillor is to support residents with issues impacting their daily life and to help Camden deliver good public services for all.”

Defections are rare but not unheard of in Camden’s political history ­– although nobody could remember a councillor ever making the journey from Labour to the Conservatives.

The switch will also cause surprise so soon into Sir Keir Starmer’s government and at a council which always generates headlines because it’s on the prime minister’s local patch.

Cllr Tiwari at a hustings in West Hampstead and starting out as a Labour candidate seven years ago

The move comes little more than 12 months before the next boroughwide council elections at which Cllr Tiwari now intends to stand as a Conservative candidate.

“For the last six years we’ve raised council tax every single year – and yet rubbish collection, crime rates, homelessness, housing maintenance levels and the management of new developments are all getting worse,” he said.

“Residents won’t care that we are pursuing a particular political outcome, such as supporting x thousand people with council tax exemptions, by doing this.

“Yes, that’s a good thing to pursue for the vulnerable and people facing difficulties, but first things first – we must take care of the basic needs of the whole community with functioning bin collections, well maintained roads, clean streets, welcoming parks, efficient housing repairs and well managed new housing developments. Otherwise all we are achieving is a growing sense of frustration and genuinely worsening outcomes for everyone.”

Conservatives Oliver Cooper, Ian Cohen and Steve Adams welcome  their newest member – the now former Labour councillor Shiva Tiwari

There was a hint of Cllr Tiwari’s frustration with the Labour rule last week when he abstained in a vote on constitutional changes banning posters in the council chamber and what could and could not be discussed. It is understood both Cllr Tiwari and former mayor Councillor Richard Cotton were ticked off by Labour organisers for doing this.

Another clue to what has now unfolded can be traced back to December when Cllr Tiwari is understood to have raised concerns about Camden’s policy of selling run down “void” properties to raise money to buy other units. “I no longer feel heard or that I have the freedom to say what I need to say, and fight the battles that need to be pursued, to generate better services and a higher quality of life for all people living and working in Camden,” he said.

“We shouldn’t be selling off hundreds of key Camden homes that the council owns in a dilapidated fire sale because we consider it politically difficult to renovate them first before selling strategically – which would drive a profit that we can invest in more housing stock.

“That’s exactly what we should do, because it’s for the good of people in Camden.”

The world of Camden politics today (Thursday) wakes up to the news of Cllr Tiwari’s change of allegiance

He has also been combative on the way Camden deals with hire bike firms whose bikes are left on the pavement and what he sees as the council’s weak negotiations with developers.

“We must hold developers to account and make sure they are delivering improved infrastructure and new resources for the whole community as part of these projects,” he said. “There’s also far too many cases of Camden leaseholders not receiving the support and the quality of service that they are paying for.

“And too many of our housing allocations are going to inappropriate tenants, making life awful for entire neighbourhoods.”

Cllr Tiwari is set to become Cllr Adams’ deputy in the Conservative group

With all the parties already beginning their long-term local election plans, Cllr Tiwari is expected to be out on the streets campaigning with the Conservatives on Saturday and he is in line to take the deputy leader role on the Tory council group.

Cllr Tiwari has said previously that he admires Sir Tony Blair’s governments and the New Journal asked him what he would say to people who say there are similarities with Mr Starmer.

He said: “I have great admiration for Sir Keir Starmer and think he’s done a lot of good things recently, for example mobilising renewed European support for Ukraine and announcing a meaningful increase in British defence spending.

“However, he is not in government alone and the government’s most recent budget is the exact opposite of what we need to drive progress and growth in our country. Increasing taxes on businesses by raising employee national insurance taxes and business rates – while also mandating increased pay scales – means businesses are forced to cut employee numbers and invest less in their own future growth plans.

“All of which has been noted by global markets in terms of the spiralling costs of UK government debt and means we’ve left ourselves with nowhere to go in terms of investing more in public services.”

He added: “Yes I have deep admiration for our prime minister and indeed many people within Labour – both nationally but also in terms of several incredibly hard-working and dedicated former colleagues of mine in Camden Labour.

“But that doesn’t change the bigger point that over a few years now, as I have become a husband and a father, I have felt my own values move away from where Labour currently sits.”

Cllr Tiwari said he admired Sir Keir Starmer and praised hi stance on Ukraine, but said the Labour government’s recent budget would harm growth – not promote it

Asked why he had made a switch to a new party rather than just leaving Labour, he said: “I’ve always been centrist in my views and I admire people in the Camden Conservatives like Steve Adams and Andrew Parkinson – I think they’ve taken a sensible line on many things and I want to make a difference, rather than be a lone, shouty voice.”

Cllr Adams said that he thought there was a “straitjacket” on debate in the Labour party.

“Shiva’s approach to local government, focused as it is on supporting residents rather than pressing the dogma of party politics, is particularly appealing,” he said.

“His choice to join us and his conviction that we are the party of opposition to Labour, is both rewarding and a great vindication of the hard work and reasoned argument that we pose to the status quo.”

Labour dispute that there is no room for policy debate within its internal discussions.

Council leader Councillor Richard Olszewski said: “Camden Labour is committed to delivering the best public services for our residents and standing up for the most vulnerable in our borough. It is disappointing that Shiva Tiwari no longer feels able to support this mission.

“West Hampstead residents elected three Labour councillors to represent them, not a Conservative. We call on him to do the right thing and call a by-election.”

West Hampstead still has two Labour councillors: Sharon Hardwick and Nazma Rahman

He added: “It is astonishing that Shiva Tiwari is supporting the party that crashed the economy and subjected our council, our NHS, and our public services across the country to devastating cuts that impacted the lives of so many of our residents.

“Camden Labour looks forward to returning three Labour councillors in West Hampstead who will work hard to put our values into practice and continue to deliver for residents.”

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Defection comes with Camden’s elections on the horizon

SHIVA Tiwari’s move from Labour to the Conservatives will cause shock at the Town Hall due to the nature of who he is defecting to ­– but it will not change who holds all the power in Camden.

Before his disillusionment with its direction and performance, he was part of the Labour team which amassed a giant majority at the last local elections in 2022 and has since held total control over decision-making.

All of the opposition parties are hoping for better fortunes when Camden goes back to the polls next year to decide who runs the council.

These will be the first boroughwide elections since 2010 where Labour’s national performance in government could have an influence on how people vote locally. It has already been suggested that the “blame it on the Tory government” lines familiar­ at recent elections will become redundant with Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street and Rachel Reeves in charge of the budget and what councils across the country get to spend on public services.

Local elections in other parts of the country to be held this May may provide us with more clues as to what happens next.

Labour councillor and former Mayor Richard Cotton has announced he will not seek re-election next year

Nobody would be wild enough to predict that Labour will lose control of Camden as it did in 2006, but even party insiders accept that the conditions will be harder next time and that some seats could be at risk of changing hands.

Before the last set of local elections, Labour took a hard line approach to any councillor that had questioned policy with a series of controversial deselections. With that in mind, there is an irony that the handpicked slate of candidates and subsequent election winners have this week been accused of being too “leftist”.

While Cllr Tiwari is at the political opposite to the left-wingers who were told they could not stand again, the controls on debate within the group were cited in his comments this week. Once again, Labour will soon start recruiting a new slate of candidates – presumably with the same iron rules on discipline. Several councillors are expected to stand down.

These include Richard Cotton, the former mayor, who announced this week he would not seek re-election next year.

He was asked on Facebook whether he had been told off by the party whips for abstaining in a council vote last week, to which he said he would not comment. He has wished the party well and described Camden Town wardmate Pat Callaghan as the hardest-working councillor.

The horizon may seem broad and far away, but such twists and turns mean this is the week when the countdown on Camden’s elections has really begun again.

RICHARD OSLEY