Queen's Park Community Council

Queen's Park Community Council
Queen's Park Community Council
	Council logo
Type
Type	Parish council
Houses	Unicameral
History
Founded	1 April 2014; 10 years ago
Leadership
Chair of Council	Eartha Pond
Director	Shuwanna Aaron
Structure
Seats	12 councillors
Length of term	4 years
Independent	12 / 12
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large
First election	May 2014
Last election	May 2022
Next election	May 2026
Meeting place
	Beethoven Centre
Website
	www.queensparkcommunitycouncil.gov.uk

Queen's Park Community Council (QPCC) is the parish council for the civil parish of Queen's Park in the City of Westminster. The council was the first to be formed in Greater London and remains the only one. It was established on 1 April 2014 following a referendum of residents in 2012. Elections to the community council are held every four years and coincide with Westminster City Council elections. The first election of 12 councillors from four wards took place on 22 May 2014.

Background

Parish councils were established in England in 1894.^[1] They had been eliminated from the London area by 1936 and were not permitted in Greater London when it was created in 1965.^[2] The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 permitted the creation of parish councils in the 32 London boroughs and permitted the alternative naming style of community council. A referendum was held in the Queen's Park ward of Westminster in 2012 to gauge support for a new parish council and it was approved by Westminster City Council in May 2012.^[3] The council was created on 1 April 2014 as part of the City of Westminster (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order 2013.^[4] The first elections took place on 22 May 2014 and then every four years to coincide with the Westminster City Council elections.

Chair of the Council

The Council elects a Chair at its Annual Meeting in May of each year and the current holder of that post is Eartha Pond.

Previous holders have been:

Name	Term
Eartha Pond	2022–present
John McArdle	2020–2022
Gill Fitzhugh	2018–2020
Susanna Rustin	2016–2018
Angeal Singhate,	2014–2016

Elections

2024 co-option

A casual vacancy arising in January 2024 was filled by the council by the co-option of Afsana Aktar on 22 May 202.

2023 co-option

A casual vacancy arising in September 2023 was filled by the council by the co-option of Shifaa Ali on 15 November 2023.^[5]

2022 election

Elections to Queen's Park Community Council were held on 5 May 2022 alongside the 2022 Westminster City Council election. Nine candidates were returned unopposed in the QPA, QPC and QPD wards, while the QPB ward was contested returning the votes shown below. The community council was counted at the same time as the city council seats.^[6]^[7]

2022 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPA (3)
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Independent	Ryan Dalton	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	Gillian Fitzhugh	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	Emma Sweeney	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A

2022 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPB (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Samantha Alleyne	286
	Local Resident	Roger Diamond	269
	Independent	David Fakhr	233
	Independent	Marcus Leon	87
Majority
Turnout
	Independent hold		Swing	N/A
	Independent hold		Swing	N/A
	Independent hold		Swing	N/A

2022 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPC (3)
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Independent	Brian Nicholas	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	Eartha Pond	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	Stella Wilson	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A

2022 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPD (3)
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Independent	Sandra Bynoe	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	Orrel Lawrence	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	John McArdle	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A

2018 co-option

A casual vacancy arising from not enough candidates standing for ward QPB at the May 2018 election was filled by the co-option of Alfrena Barbe by the council on 4 June 2018.^[8]

2018 election

Elections to Queen's Park Community Council were held on 3 May 2018 alongside the 2018 Westminster City Council election. Eight candidates were returned unopposed in wards QPA, QPB and QPD. The QPC ward was contested returning the votes shown below. The community council was counted at the same time as the city council seats.^[9]

2018 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPA (3)
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Independent	Ryan Ardehali	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	Gillian Fitzhugh	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	Emma Sweeney	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A

2018 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPB (3)
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Independent	Raymond Lancashire	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent	Susanna Rustin	uncontested	N/A	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A

2018 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPC (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	52 years resident father supporting diversity	Brian Nicholas	302	25.6	N/A
	Promoting mental health and youth engagement	Stella Wilson	292	24.7	N/A
	Start here, make a difference!	Eartha Pond	208	17.6	N/A
	Independent: Committed to representing the unrepresented	Angela Singhate	207	17.5	N/A
	Queen's Park Resident for 19 years	Richard Saturley	172	14.6	N/A
Majority			1	0.1	N/A
Turnout			1181		N/A
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

2018 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPD (3)
	Candidate	Votes	%
Independent	Leslie Barson	uncontested
Independent	Orrel Lawrence	uncontested
Independent	John Mcardle	uncontested
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A
Independent hold		Swing	N/A

2017 co-option

A casual vacancy arising in July 2017 was filled by the council by the co-option of Nasima Khanom on 20 September 2017.^[10]

2014 election

Electors went to the polls on 22 May 2014 for the newly established Queen's Park Community Council with both votes cast and results counted at the same time as the 2014 Westminster City Council election. The community council is non party-political with all candidates standing as ‘independents’. Three candidates were elected to each of wards QPA and QPB and three returned unopposed for each of QPC and QPD.^[11]

2014 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPA (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Queen's Park community council action group	Joe Fernandes	501	21.0	*N/A*
	Community Council founding member vice chair	Emma Sweeney	488	20.5	*N/A*
	Independent Young Local Resident	Ryan Dalton	399	16.7	*N/A*
	Helping to create a better community	Kimberley Durrance	336	14.1	N/A
	Resident, passionate about families and communities	Pepe Mykoo	334	14.0	N/A
	Helping to create a better community	Angie Durrance	334	13.6	N/A
Majority			63	2.6	N/A
Turnout			2383		N/A
	Independent win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)

2014 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPB (3)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	For a safer, happier community	Emma Morgan	487	27.4	*N/A*
	Local activist for disadvantaged youth	Musa Ahmed	394	22.1	*N/A*
	Creating a better community	Julius Hogben	380	21.4	*N/A*
	Working towards improving the Queen's Park community	Deborah Lauder	291	16.4	N/A
	Giving the community a new voice	Fiona Doherty	228	12.8	N/A
Majority			89	5.0	N/A
Turnout			1780		N/A
	Independent win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)

2014 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPC (3)
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Queen's Park Community Council Campaigner	Katie Cowan	uncontested	*N/A*	*N/A*
Start here, make a difference	Eartha Pond	uncontested	*N/A*	*N/A*
Community Council Founding Member and Chair	Angela Singhate	uncontested	*N/A*	*N/A*
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

2014 Queen's Park Community Council election: QPD (3)
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Representing young people of Queen's Park	Philip Andokou	uncontested	*N/A*	*N/A*
Community council founding member	Gill Fitzhugh	uncontested	*N/A*	*N/A*
Queen's Park Community Council Campaign	Susanna Rustin	uncontested	*N/A*	*N/A*
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)
Independent win (new seat)

2012 referendum

The referendum was held during May 2012.

2012 Queen's Park Community Council referendum
Choice	Votes	%
Yes	1,100	68.4
No	508	31.6
Total votes	1,608	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	8,058	20
Source: Westminster Community Governance Review

References

^ Derounian, James (2 February 2014). "Queen's Park: home of London's first parish council". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ Philip, Clifford (July 2012). "Parish councils in London". London Councils. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ Quinn, Ben (28 May 2012). "London parish backs bid to become 'People's Republic of Queen's Park'". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "The City of Westminster Reorganisation of Community Governance Order 2013" (PDF). The Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "QPCC Co-opts a New Coucnillor". Queen’s Park Community Council. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "Queen's Park Community Council elections 2022". Westminster City Council. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "Election of Councillors to Queen's Park Community Council – 5 May 2022: QPD Ward" (PDF). Westminster City Council. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "Minutes of a Special Meeting of Council" (PDF). Queen's Park Community Council. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "Election of Councillors to Queen's Park Community Council – 3 May 2018" (PDF). Westminster City Council. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "Minutes of the Meeting of Council" (PDF). Queen's Park Community Council. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "Queen's Park Community Council Election Results". Westminster City Council. 15 May 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2018.

External links

Official website

[1] Derounian, James (2 February 2014). "Queen's Park: home of London's first parish council". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[2] Philip, Clifford (July 2012). "Parish councils in London". London Councils. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[3] Quinn, Ben (28 May 2012). "London parish backs bid to become 'People's Republic of Queen's Park'". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[4] "The City of Westminster Reorganisation of Community Governance Order 2013" (PDF). The Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[5] "QPCC Co-opts a New Coucnillor". Queen’s Park Community Council. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[elections_2022-6] "Queen's Park Community Council elections 2022". Westminster City Council. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[:3-7] "Election of Councillors to Queen's Park Community Council – 5 May 2022: QPD Ward" (PDF). Westminster City Council. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[8] "Minutes of a Special Meeting of Council" (PDF). Queen's Park Community Council. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[9] "Election of Councillors to Queen's Park Community Council – 3 May 2018" (PDF). Westminster City Council. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[10] "Minutes of the Meeting of Council" (PDF). Queen's Park Community Council. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[Westminster_City_Council-11] "Queen's Park Community Council Election Results". Westminster City Council. 15 May 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]