Elections, Hustings and The Curious Case of Missing CCTV

Chiswick Homefields councillor Jack Emsley reports back

Cllr Jack Emsley

May 2, 2026

Elections, Crime and Hustings

It’s just a few days to go until the local elections in Chiswick. Thursday will be a chance to decide who you want to represent our area on Hounslow Council. As someone who has had the pleasure and privilege to do just that for the past four years, I can say with some confidence that whoever wins will find being a councillor for our community an exceptionally rewarding experience.

Of course, in Chiswick Homefields I very much hope that it’s me and my two excellent ward colleagues, Linden Grigg and Mike Denniss – I’ve known both for many years, and had the pleasure to campaign with both in this election for the past ten months or so.

Mike will need very little introduction, having previously represented Chiswick Riverside as a councillor. He grew up in Grove Park and is about as local and as diligent a candidate as you can get. Linden is also a fantastic candidate, being a Devonshire Road resident and throwing himself into the local community whether in his campaigns on ebikes and step-free access, through to his tireless support for local groups who are working to keep Chiswick special.

Chiswick Homefields has been exceptionally lucky with its representation over the past few decades, having had stalwart councillors John Todd and Gerald McGregor ably advocating for our local area since the mid 2000s. I count myself as exceptionally lucky to have had them as ward colleagues since 2022, and have learnt a huge amount about public service from them both. They will be sorely missed and leave big boots to fill!

The Curious Case of Missing CCTV

Away from the campaign, our work as councillors continues! To that end, earlier this week I was alerted to a curious case of recently installed CCTV cameras seemingly vanishing overnight on a road in my ward (for obvious reasons I won’t be identifying which one!). Less than a day after the cameras disappeared, neighbours reported an attempted break-in.

Having written directly to the council, I was told that the cameras were removed and “redeployed” to another part of the borough. As councillors we worked hard to secure these CCTV units to protect local residents. It’s an understatement to say that I was frustrated to learn that Hounslow Council decided, just a couple of weeks from the election, to redeploy them away from Chiswick. Par for the course in how the current council treats our area. We have of course asked for them to be reinstated, and the enforcement team at the council has agreed to review the decision and re-add the road in question to its list of areas that require community safety CCTV.

I am aware that certain Green Party candidates have stated in several public meetings over the course of the campaign that crime in Chiswick isn’t actually that bad. I’m not sure I’d be so relaxed about crime in our area, and certainly your local Conservative councillors have worked hard alongside our brilliant police team to ensure residents and businesses are protected.

It’s a theme that I know my colleagues in Chiswick Gunnersbury have been particularly focussed on over the past few years. Councillors Joanna Biddolph and Ron Mushiso have worked tirelessly to support active dialogue with local police teams, organising public meetings and passionately advocating for improved safety initiatives along the High Road. Councillor Vickram Grewal has eight years of experience advocating for the safety of areas he represents, and I’ve seen how actively he is engaging with shops in Chiswick to discuss their concerns about crime and work to make our area safer.

Let’s be clear – Chiswick is an amazing place to live and work. But as I’ve seen over the past four years, it takes dedicated local councillors working alongside local police teams to tackle crime and keep our community safe. Beware candidates who dismiss worries about crime as being a “perception issue” rather than something to be actively challenged!

Grove Park Hustings

 On Thursday I joined fellow candidates in Homefields and Riverside for the Grove Park Hustings at St Paul’s Church. The event was expertly organised by the Grove Park Group – I’ve written at length over the past four years about how lucky we are to have community groups like the Grove Park Group (and indeed the excellent Dukes Meadows Trust, of which I’m lucky enough to be a trustee).

Of course, the venue has been a mainstay of local Chiswick community engagement for many years, including hosting the first Chiswick Area Forum I chaired last year. It is also a church regularly attended by Conservative candidate in Riverside ward, Jessika Toto-Moukouo, who has impressed many in Chiswick over the course of this campaign with her hands on approach to local community engagement. Sadly, no choir for her to sing with during the hustings – perhaps just as well given very few of the other candidates are any good at singing!

Conservative candidates at the Grove Park Hustings

The hustings was a great success, with Green Party and Labour candidates facing off against experienced Riverside Councillor Gabriella Giles. I am of course slightly biased, but Gabriella’s experience and local knowledge gave her a clear edge over the other two panellists. She was able to give an update on the latest data around the South Chiswick Liveable Neighbourhood (statistics comparing 2019 and 2025 can be found here), and talk to the importance of protecting our local businesses from tough economic climate currently facing them.

She also made the excellent point that this year’s elections are exceptionally close. The last (and so far only) time Labour lost their majority in this borough was twenty years ago. Back then, a certain Peter Thompson became leader of the borough, and over the course of his four years in charge council tax was frozen and residents were put first. The good news is that Peter is once again leading the Conservative Group into this election – it’s clear that Labour nationally and locally have lost the confidence of residents in this borough, and Peter is the only person with the experience needed to take control and fix Hounslow.

Most importantly, because this is a close election it also means that every vote counts. Thursday is a chance to elect who represents our local area over the next four years. Make sure your voice is heard – polling stations are open between 9am and 10pm on Thursday 7 th May. Don’t forget to bring ID!

Cllr Jack Emsley

jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 

07977 396017

DEMOCRACY: DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Council Meeting – Next Borough Council Not Till

26 May 2026 7:30 pm  – The Annual Meeting of the Council

Anyone can attend public meetings of the council. Most meetings take place on the 6th Floor, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, TW3 3EB. Hounslow House is fully accessible. The nearest tube is Hounslow Central which does not have step-free access. Parking in local roads is limited.

Principal meetings are broadcast live on the Council’s YouTube channel

Emergencies

You can report emergencies outside office hours by ringing the council on: 020 8583 2222.

CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLOR SURGERIES

Chiswick: Every Saturday from 9.30am to 10.30am at Chiswick Library (the seven Conservative councillors take this surgery in turn).

Gunnersbury: First Saturday of the month from 10am to 11am at The Gunnersbury Triangle Club, Triangle Way, off The Ridgeway, W3 8LU (at least one of the Chiswick Gunnersbury ward councillors takes this surgery). 

CONSERVATIVE COUNCILLORS and CONTACTS

Chiswick Gunnersbury ward

Cllr Joanna Biddolph joanna.biddolph@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 703446

Cllr Ron Mushiso ron.mushiso@hounslow.gov.uk 07976 702887

Chiswick Homefields ward

Cllr Jack Emsley jack.emsley@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 396017

Cllr Gerald McGregor gerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784821

Cllr John Todd john.todd@hounslow.gov.uk 07866 784651

Chiswick Riverside ward

Cllr Gabriella Giles gabriella.giles@hounslow.gov.uk 07966 270823

Cllr Peter Thompson peter.thompson@hounslow.gov.uk 07977 395810