Brent: A YIMBY Council with a Minority Administration

4 September 2026 | Khayer Chowdhury

Brent Council delivered one of the more startling results of May’s borough elections: Labour lost overall control for the first time in 16 years, despite remaining comfortably the largest party. On the final declared count, Labour holds 26 of 57 seats, against 11 Conservatives, 11 Liberal Democrats and 9 Greens – three short of the 29 needed for a majority. Deputy leader Mili Patel was among those who lost their seats to opposition gains, along with at least one cabinet member, Cllr Neil Nerva, unseated in Queen’s Park.

Leader Cllr Muhammed Butt, 14 years in post, faced immediate calls to quit from newly elected Lib Dem leader Cllr Anton Georgiou, who accused the administration of letting a “toxic culture” take hold. Butt survived: he was re-elected leader with Conservative abstentions, and Labour opted to govern as a minority administration with an all-Labour cabinet rather than accept a Lib Dem-floated cross-party “rainbow” arrangement.

Now a few months on from May, the dust has settled and we can get a clearer view what is happening. Despite the political uncertainties a minority administration brings, Cllr Butt appears to be determined in having a pro-development stance.

The cabinet appointment worth tracking most closely is Cllr Matt Kelcher, who holds Regeneration and Planning and represents Harlesden & Kensal Green. That ward includes Bridge Park, where he’s championing a phased scheme combining a new leisure centre with 1,000-plus homes, due for planning submission in autumn 2026. He’s described it as turning “long-empty buildings into homes, jobs and modern facilities.”

Cllr Kelcher chaired Brent’s Planning Committee before the election; that role has since passed to another councillor now that he sits in cabinet, in line with normal practice separating planning decisions from cabinet direction. We can confirm he is very active in Labour YIMBY, the pro-housebuilding group within the party.

This Cabinet pick is indicative of Brent’s ambitious development pipeline, which by current reporting keeps moving regardless of the politics: a 2,200-home Staples Corner scheme running to 2041, a 1,600-plus-home Dudden Hill Campus redevelopment starting construction this year, and a 1,084-home, seven-tower Neasden Goods Yard scheme – towers up to 45 storeys – due before planning committee in 2026.