FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 11 May 2026
The 2026 Barnet local elections show that residents around the Edgware Town Centre redevelopment site delivered a distinct local message at the ballot box — one that stands apart from broader borough-wide trends.
In Edgwarebury, Edgware and Burnt Oak — the three Barnet wards immediately affected by the 3,365-home, 31-building scheme approved by Barnet’s Strategic Planning Committee on 23 July 2025 — Labour’s vote share fell 26.3 points (vs −19.2pp borough-wide). Reform UK’s vote rose 19.1 points (vs +14.9pp borough-wide). The Liberal Democrats rose 2.2 points in the area against a borough-wide fall of 5.2 points.
The pattern reinforces what Save Our Edgware (SOE) has argued for nearly two years: the voice of Edgware residents matters, and decision-makers ignore it at their cost.
Anuta Zack, lead campaigner for Save Our Edgware, said:
“The 7,000 residents who formally objected to this scheme during the planning consultation were not a statistic. The 6,000-plus who signed our 38 Degrees petition were not a number. They were a community speaking — clearly, repeatedly, and through every legitimate channel available to them. The local election results show that voice carries through to the ballot box too. Edgware residents have spoken.“
“With Barnet Council now in no overall control and the political landscape rebalanced, every Reserved Matters Application, every Section 106 detail, and every fire safety condition will be scrutinised under new arrangements. SOE will continue to engage constructively with all newly elected councillors of every party.”
Labour ‘punished hardest’ for breaking their manifesto promise
The 2022 Barnet Labour manifesto pledged to “stand up to developers with tougher policies on height and density” and promised residents “more affordable family homes, not tower-block blight.” In office, the same Labour administration deleted the height protections from the Local Plan in May 2024 and then voted 6–3 to approve a 3,365-home scheme with 31 buildings up to 29 storeys at Edgware Town Centre on 23 July 2025, despite a formal London Fire Brigade objection.
In the three Edgware-area wards immediately affected, Labour’s vote share collapsed by 26.3 percentage points — from 47.1% in 2022 to just 20.8% in 2026. Across the borough as a whole, the drop was 19.2 points. The 7.1-point extra fall was concentrated in the wards immediately around the scheme.
In Edgwarebury and Edgware, the two Barnet wards closest to the development site, Conservative councillors were returned with increased majorities. Labour’s vote share in Edgwarebury more than halved, falling from 46.5% in 2022 to just 13.7% in 2026. In Edgware it dropped from 31.5% to 13.6%.
The three Burnt Oak Labour councillors return — but on a sharply reduced mandate, with their vote share dropping over 48% — from 69.5% in 2022 to just 36.0% in 2026.
Most strikingly, Cllr Nigel Young — the Labour Chair of Barnet’s Strategic Planning Committee, who voted in favour of approval and steered the committee through the 23 July 2025 vote — lost his Woodhouse seat, with Labour losing its second seat in the ward to the Greens.
Conservative opposition rewarded with strong holds
The Conservative-led council originally initiated the Edgware Supplementary Planning Document framework (2020–21), designating Edgware as a growth area. Crucially, however, their Local Plan included the “Very Tall Buildings” exceptional circumstances test and required developers to treat neighbouring building heights as the foremost benchmark — protections Labour later removed through Modification MM46 in May 2024.
When Labour brought the revised Local Plan back for adoption in February 2025, all Barnet Conservative councillors voted against. When the outline application came to the Strategic Planning Committee on 23 July 2025, all three Conservative SPC members voted against the scheme. Cllr Richard Cornelius asked the Committee: “Is this what we want to be remembered for?” The Conservative deferral motion on fire safety grounds was defeated 6–3 by Labour. Cllrs Wakeley, Gordon and Gurung gave deputations against the application.
The Conservative 2026 manifesto commits to delivering “much-needed homes the right way: family homes that are beautiful in design, practical“ — alongside rewriting the Local Plan and Design Code with enforceable height and density limits, and introducing Resident Development Management Plans developed with resident groups before any developer submits an application.
That track record and those commitments were reflected at the ballot box. In Edgwarebury, Conservative vote share grew from 49.5% to 57.7% — turning a 42-vote 2022 margin into a 1,367-vote majority. In Edgware (Barnet), Conservatives held all three seats with the lowest-placed Conservative finishing 1,890 votes ahead of the next candidate. In Harrow Edgware, Conservatives gained the third seat from Labour. In Harrow’s Canons ward, both Conservative councillors were re-elected with their winning margin growing from 792 votes in 2022 to 1,127 votes in 2026 — a 42% increase.
Save Our Edgware will hold the Conservatives to their manifesto commitment to family homes — with enforceable height limits, genuine affordability, and the fire safety this scheme has so far been denied.
Reform UK ‘disproportionately rewarded’ for opposition
Reform UK’s London Mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham visited Edgware before polling day, raising garage fire safety concerns directly with residents. Reform’s Barnet councillor also gave a formal deputation against the scheme and wrote to the Secretary of State. Reform UK won no council seats in Barnet — but their 19.1% vote share in the Edgware area was 4.2 points above their 14.9% borough-wide average, more than any other party gained locally.
Liberal Democrats: the ‘Hina Bokhari effect’
The Liberal Democrats — who had no Barnet councillors in the previous council term — saw their vote rise by 2.2 points in the Edgware area, against a borough-wide collapse of 5.2 points. Hina Bokhari OBE AM, Chair of the GLA Fire Committee, wrote to the Secretary of State and questioned the Mayor five times across three London Assembly sessions on Edgware-related fire safety risks. Baroness Caroline Pidgeon raised the underground bus garage at City Hall as far back as November 2021.
A council in no overall control
Barnet Council is now in no overall control for the first time since 2002, with Labour and the Conservatives equal on 31 seats each, and one Green councillor holding the balance of power. The Reserved Matters Applications for the Edgware Town Centre redevelopment will now be considered by a council with a significantly different political composition from the one that approved the outline scheme.
Save Our Edgware will continue its evidence-based campaigning, including its ongoing work on fire safety risks identified by the London Fire Brigade, the loss of the bus station, the deliverability of replacement housing, and the proper use of Community Infrastructure Levy funds.
The campaign remains non-party political and welcomes support from residents of all political views.
ENDS