Eight Westminster City councillors to quit at next election

Eight councillors including a Mayor of London candidate are stepping down from Westminster City Council when local elections take place on Thursday 7 May 2026.

So far, five Labour, two Conservative and one Reform UK councillor are confirmed to be leaving Westminster Council when voters go to the polls. All parties are expected to field new candidates shortly.

Labour won control of the council for the first time in May 2022 and currently has 28 sitting members. The Conservatives, who held the local authority since its inception in 1965 until 2022, has 24 members. Reform UK has two. Both recently defected from the Conservative Party. The councillors stepping down in May are:

Laila Cunningham – Reform UK

Laila Cunningham has represented Lancaster Gate ward since 2022 and is now vying to take over Sir Sadiq Khan’s spot in City Hall. Reform UK confirmed Cllr Cunningham will not be standing in the local elections so she can fully commit to her campaign to be the Mayor of London, which isn’t being contested for another two years.

Questions about about her intention to run in 2026 were raised as far back as June last year when the former CPS barrister announced she had defected from the Tories. She recently pledged the party’s manifesto for the 2028 Mayoral election will be written “by Londoners, for Londoners” and claimed the capital has been ignored by Sir Sadiq Khan for the last decade.

Her Reform UK colleague on the council, Cllr Alan Mendoza, is yet to confirm whether he’ll contest his Abbey Road ward seat in May.

It comes as Cllr Cunningham defended her decision to attend an event with a grooming gang survivor over attending a Full Council meeting on 21 January.

Her spokesperson said: “Cllr Cunningham yesterday attended an event with [a] grooming gang survivor…to shine a spotlight on her harrowing case and the countless others still unfolding across the country, including in London.

“This event unfortunately clashed with Westminster’s Full Council meeting. However, this is an issue that is important to Laila’s residents and for survivors in London that have been failed by the system. I hope that this level of scrutiny on the attendance of Westminster City councillors will be applied to all parties.”

Ryan Jude – Labour

Councillor Ryan Jude is the cabinet member for climate, ecology, culture and air quality. He has represented Lancaster Gate ward since 2022, alongside Laila Cunningham.

According to the Local Government Association, Cllr Jude grew up in the North West of England and moved to London to study at Imperial College London. According to his LinkedIn account, Cllr Jude is currently a director of the Green Finance Institute, an environmental non-profit which advises the UK Government on green finance policy.

Cllr Jude said he is stepping down due to family reasons and will be moving back to the North West.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “From investing in supporting residents in all parts of the City, to being one of the biggest social housing developers in the country, the Labour Party in Westminster has delivered on its manifesto promises from 2022. I am proud to have been part of an administration that fought for the things that mattered most to our residents, and I’m particularly proud of our record on addressing the climate and ecological emergencies.

“Before I move back to the North West for family reasons, I will be out campaigning to ensure my Labour colleagues can continue the good work we have started, by winning in Westminster once again this May.”

Ahead of the election he is stepping down from his cabinet position and will be replaced by Cllr Sara Hassan on 29 January.

James Small-Edwards – Labour

James Small-Edwards is the deputy cabinet member for regeneration and is the armed forces champion on the council. He has represented the ward of Bayswater since May 2022.

Cllr Small-Edwards is also a London Assembly Member representing West Central, a seat he won in the May 2024 London Mayoral and Assembly elections.

As a councillor, he has provided funding for local youth clubs in his ward, set up the borough’s first design review panel, and helped introduce a new Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document, according to his profile on the Greater London Authority (made up of the London Assembly and Mayor of London).

Before working in politics, he worked at a food bank in his constituency and he currently serves as a trustee of the youth arts charity Paddington Arts. The LDRS understands Cllr Small-Edwards was selected by Labour to stand in the election in May but is choosing to step down to focus on his role with the GLA.

The Labour Party has not yet chosen a candidate to replace him.

Cllr Small-Edwards said: “I will be standing down from the council in May to focus on my role representing West Central on the London Assembly. It has been an absolute honour representing my ward of Bayswater over the past four years.

“I look forward to working hard over the coming months to ensure that we continue to have a great Labour administration in Westminster delivering more council homes, free school meals for children aged 3-14, and support with the cost of living crisis.”

Matt Noble – Labour

Matt Noble is stepping down after eight years as a councillor for Church Street ward.

Cllr Noble was minority then majority chief whip from 2019 until 2023 and opposition regeneration spokesperson from 2018 until Labour took control of the council in 2022. He was the cabinet member for climate action, regeneration and renters and later cabinet member for regeneration and renters from May 2022 until June 2025 when he stepped down from Cabinet.

As well as increasing the supply of genuinely affordable homes in the council’s development programme, Cllr Noble said he helped undertake and win two resident ballots on regeneration in Church Street ward and the Ebury Bridge Estate, and helped host the council’s first ever Citizens’ Climate Assembly in 2023.

He recently came under increased scrutiny for awarding Geoffrey Osborne the contract to build three housing developments in 2022 despite an internal memo warning the company was financially unstable.

The firm went bust two years later, leaving properties half-finished and causing the council to fall behind on its affordable housing target and fork out millions of pounds on housing repairs. Cllr Noble said the Osborne contract was signed in 2022 when their credit rating had gone back up and blamed the company’s demise on the turmoil caused by former prime minister Liz Truss’ mini-budget.

Labour claims they were never shown the briefing note. According to his LinkedIn profile, Cllr Noble has been a director of legal and procurement at Orbus Software since 2023.

He told the LDRS he is stepping down for personal reasons. He said: “I’m stepping down at the next local elections. It’s been an honour to represent Church Street Ward for what will be eight years in May and to have served in the Cabinet for three years. I’ve decided to step back and support Labour away from frontline politics.”

Ruth Bush – Labour

Councillor Ruth Bush was first elected to Westminster City Council in 2005 and was the first ever Labour Lord Mayor of Westminster in 2019-20, according to Labour for Westminster.

News of Cllr Bush stepping down came during a Wednesday’s Full Council meeting when the Harrow Road ward councillor announced she was posing her final question during a full council.

She told the LDRS: “Throughout my 20 years as a Labour councillor for the people of Harrow Road ward I’ve worked hard for the people of the ward, as well serving on committees and promoting interfaith relations as chair of Westminster Faith Exchange; and it was an outstanding privilege to be the first Labour Lord Mayor of Westminster. I’m so proud of what Labour has achieved since we won the council in 2022. I shall miss it all, especially the people. I hope they will elect Rhys Thomas to follow in my footsteps.”

Paul Dimoldenberg – Labour

In June, councillor Paul Dimoldenberg announced he was standing down as a cabinet member and would not contest his seat at the next local election. Cllr Dimoldenberg’s cabinet position as the lead for city management was given to Cllr Max Sullivan.

Cllr Dimoldenberg also became Lord Mayor last year. He will be retiring.

Having first been elected to the council in 1982 for Harrow Road ward, Cllr Dimoldenberg has also served as a councillor in Queen’s Park from 1997 to 2022, as well as Leader of the Opposition group between 1987 and 1990 and again between 2004 and 2015.

Dimoldenberg started in local government working for the London Boroughs of Southwark and Wandsworth before founding public relations company Quatro.

Jacqui Wilkinson – Conservatives

Jacqui Wilkinson has been a councillor for Pimlico since 2015. She first represented Warrick Ward and now represents North Pimlico.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Cllr Wilkinson has held an array of deputy cabinet posts from city management and customer relations to communities and regeneration. The LDRS understands she is retiring. She has been contacted for comment.

Louise Hyams – Conservatives

Councillor Louise Hyams has represented St James’s Ward since her election to the council in 1998, according to City of Westminster Conservative Group. She currently sits on the council’s Licensing Committee and Standards Committee and served as Lord Mayor of Westminster in 2008-2009.

The LDRS understands she is retiring. She has been contacted for comment.

What have Labour and the Conservatives said?

Westminster Labour chief whip, Cllr Iman Less thanked the councillors for their contributions.

“They have been exceptional councillors and have made real differences in not only their ward, but the wider communities,” she told the LDRS.

She also confirmed Cllr Sanquest, who recently went on maternity leave and welcomed a baby girl in December, will be contesting her Queen’s Park ward seat in May. She also said Cllr Sanquest will return to Cabinet but did not provide a date.

She confirmed Jenneba Sie-Jollah and Connor Jones will be joining sitting Cllr Ellie Ormsby to contest seats for Lancaster Gate ward which are currently occupied by Cllr Jude and Reform UK’s Cllr Laila Cunningham.

Fiona Parker will replace Cllr Noble in Church Street ward while Nigel Medford will replace Cllr Dimoldenberg in Hyde Park. Rhys Thomas will replace Cllr Bush in Harrow Road.

Westminster Conservative Leader Cllr Paul Swaddle thanked councillors for their time. He said: “On behalf of the Westminster Conservatives, I would like to thank all Conservative and Labour councillors that are stepping down for their service. They between them have dedicated many decades to public service.”

He said his party will announced candidates closer to the election. Reform UK said it will be standing in every ward in the upcoming London local elections and that candidates will be announced in due course.

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This report was updated on Monday 26 January to included a comment by James Small-Edwards; and updated again on Tuesday 27 January to state that Cllr Jude will be replaced in his cabinet role by Cllr Hassan.

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