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In Hillingdon, Councillor Ian Edwards has been the Leader of the Council since January 2021. He is "cautiously optimistic" that come Friday, May 8, he will still be the Conservative Council Leader.
Ahead of the local elections taking place on May 7, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) interviewed Cllr Edwards to ask about his plans for the future of Hillingdon. From council tax and the controversy surrounding Cowley Meeting Hall to his party's manifesto.
We laid out the pledges from each of the main parties in Hillingdon in a separate article. You also can see a full list of Hillingdon election candidates, broken down by ward.
See our full guide: London elections 2026 - everything you need to know
Cllr Edwards says he will defend "universal services", keep council tax down, and continue to lobby the government for fairer funding.
He told the LDRS that he would ensure that keeping costs and council tax down can be done without cutting services, rather by "challenging the way we deliver services and changing them". On fairer funding, he argues that Hillingdon is disproportionately affected by the number of people entering the country seeking asylum in comparison to other local authorities.
He said: "The issue has come about when asylum seekers have been more quickly given permission to remain in the country and then the Home Office evicts them from the hotel into our borough. So, we are picking up the homelessness consequences of asylum seekers at a far greater rate than any other borough. That is the hidden cost that we have and we will carry on arguing for that to be better met by national funding."
Many politicians in 2026 are embracing the use of short form vertical videos and clips as a means to connect with voters. This is a strategy which has been used by the Hillingdon Conservatives for this election campaign.
Instead of producing a formal booklet style manifesto, the party has produced a series of short clips detailing pledges and promises for the next four years.
The Conservatives pledged to keep council tax as low as possible, however for the last two years they have increased council tax by the maximum amount possible as the threat of Section 114 - effectively declaring bankruptcy - loomed. The council seems to be out of the woods for now following a government bailout, however we asked Cllr Edwards how he could commit to keeping tax as low as possible.
He said: "The government's funding is predicated on councils increasing the council tax rate by 4.99% for each of the next three years. If you don't do that, you will create a funding gap to provide the necessary services."
On housing, Cllr Edwards says he will continue to enforce a strict 10-year residency requirement for council housing, and on fly-tipping, there are plans to invest in 60 new CCTV cameras and increase enforcement.
In 2022, the Hillingdon Tories, under the leadership of Cllr Edwards, committed to ensuring garden waste continues to be collected for free. However, amid financial uncertainty in 2025, the party broke that manifesto commitment, and introduced a £70 subscription charge which this year has increased to £77 annually.
When asked whether residents can trust promises made by the Tories to stick to a 2026 commitment of maintaining weekly bin collections, at a time when some councils are moving to fortnightly. Cllr Edwards said: "How can I guarantee? There are no guarantees because the government doesn't like us being an outlier in delivering weekly and they are bringing enormous pressure on us to change.
"We will resist it to our utmost ability [and] actually defend against this."
In January 2026, the LDRS obtained a document showing that the Tory Cabinet in Hillingdon had planned to write off the debt of a former councillor on his lease of Cowley Meeting Hall - home to Theo's Cafe. This led to a swift change of position from the council - now chasing ex-councillor Alan Deville for his debt.
In April, the LDRS revealed that Hillingdon Council had given Mr Deville at least a £113,000 discount on his rent despite the fact he was not eligible for it. This has led to outcry amongst opposition parties, with Hillingdon Reform pledging an official inquiry if elected.
Speaking on the issue publicly for the first time, Cllr Edwards was asked if the Conservatives need to rebuild trust with Cowley residents. He said plainly: "No, I don't."
He added: "Because it will very clearly be seen in [time] as all the facts are played out and the circumstances are played out. The Hillingdon Conservatives have put our residents first, have ensured that its facilities are properly marketed to ensure its best return, and we're not doing any background deals with any favoured business or client."
When asked why Mr Deville was given a large discount he was not eligible for, Cllr Edwards said: "That was wrong, that should never have happened. That is something we are looking at why it happened.
"There should have been the intelligence within the system to have recognised that the discount should have been removed. It didn't, why? We don't know, but as I say, it is now all part of what is being looked at to ensure we get proper recovery."
Have a story you want to share? Email philip.lynch@reachplc.com or @pjlynchjourno on X.
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