Welcoming a New Mayor and a New Labour Councillor Both from Chiswick

Report back from Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick

Andy Slaughter MP (left) with the new Mayor of Hounslow, Cllr Amy Croft (right)

May 31, 2025

This week I was delighted to be invited to speak at the St Andrew’s Fellowship at Christ Church. I spoke to members about my role as an MP, my career in politics, and answered questions from members. I was really pleased to meet and talk with people afterward, whilst enjoying some delicious home-made cakes.

On Monday evening I attended Hounslow Council’s Annual General Meeting where Chiswick Riverside councillor, Amy Croft, was confirmed as Mayor of Hounslow. Amy is a fantastic councillor for her ward and was the first Labour councillor to have been elected in Chiswick since 1998. The appointment is well deserved, and I have no doubt that she will continue her dedication to public service in her role as Mayor of Hounslow.

Chiswick Labour were also delighted to welcome Councillor Ranjit Gill to the Labour benches this week after crossing the floor from the Conservative party. This is good news for residents in Chiswick as they will have another hard-working Labour councillor and a strong voice for residents in Chiswick Gunnersbury ward. Councillor Gill stated his reason for joining Labour was due to internal divisions within the Conservative group.

Many residents have written to me recently about the sudden closure of Chiswick Post Office. As Chiswick residents will know, the post office suddenly closed on 2 nd May with no warning. I have written to the Post Office several times, but the consistent message is the building is closed for operational reasons and they are working hard to restore the service as soon as possible. This uncertainty is unacceptable and understandably frustrating for residents. I have discussed the matter with Councillor Shantanu Rajawat, Leader of Hounslow Council, and we have sent a joint letter to the Post Office pushing for answers and requesting an urgent meeting.

This weekend I am looking forward to visiting the Hounslow Jets swimming club at New Chiswick Pool. I am always delighted to visit local clubs and events to see all the wonderful activities that are happening throughout the constituency.

Best wishes,

Andy

andy@andyslaughter.com

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.