Leader of Brondesbury Park Tories opens door for reconciliation with colleagues

The leader of the Brondesbury Park Conservatives (BPC) has opened the door for a reunion with the Conservative Group (CG) after losing their bid to be named principal opposition.

Councillors Reg Colwill, Bhiku Patel and Suresh Kansagra held on to the Kenton ward - Credit: Archant

Cllr John Warren split from the group along with councillors Carol Shaw and Joel Davidson following a bitter disagreement during the party’s annual leadership elections just two weeks after the local elections in May.

Both groups were considered as opposition to the Labour-run councillor and were entitled to additional allowances as leaders of their respective groups, until councillors voted to award the title exclusively to the CG, during the full council meeting on Monday.

Likening the situation to a family breakdown, Cllr John Warren, said: “We are going through a bad spell at the moment. In an ideal world we will solve our differences. We want to bring the family back together.”

He continued: “I am obviously disappointed because we feel that we are the main opposition considering how much work we do and how many meetings we attend.”

Suresh Kansagra, leader of the CG, which also consists of fellow Kenton councillors Reg Colwill and Bhiku Patel, told the Times that it would be for the group to decide whether the three Brondesbury Park councillors should rejoin.

He continued: “Personally I find it extremely difficult to work with John at the moment but I’m not here to say bad words about him.”