Havering’s GLA Member: Keith Prince (Reform)

Havering has two important regional issues. The first is the nine-month closure of the Gallows Corner flyover. This is causing local and east London disruption. The second is significant damage to London’s housing strategy. This is the result of the non-funding of Beam Park station by the Treasury.

Keith isn’t interested in Beam Park but is fascinated by Gallows Corner. He has asked Mayor Khan two questions in three months about Gallows Corner (see A & C in the Addendum). Why is this Keith’s priority?

The Gallows Corner fiasco¹ will finish despite repairs making glacial progress. Then the chaos will stop. Keith focuses on Gallows Corner because it’s obvious.

Beam Park is a more challenging. There aren’t easy answers and it’s of critical regional importance. Beam Park’s housing development must have a station built. This looks easy because it doesn’t need new track or a realignment of the east London network. Unfortunately, governments are hypnotised by Treasury orthodoxy. Their grim reductionist thinking means they won’t fund the station. And that means thousands of houses won’t be built. The government’s housing policy is collateral damage to a wrong-headed economic analysis.

Housing is a government priority and Beam Park station will unleash a bonanza.

“….there’s been a mix of recriminations and negotiations about how and why the station, which could serve as many as 20,000 homes, wasn’t authorised to be built.”²

Mayor Khan has approved £32.747m to make Beam Park happen.³ And the Treasury is stalling. Mayor Khan is fighting hard for Beam Park but what is Keith doing?⁴ He asked a question about bus drivers getting hot in their cabins. (see Addendum B).

Question C at the November meeting (see Addendum at 3 hours 20) was developed by Keith who asked for a period of temporary reopening for Christmas. This positive proposal will help traders if implemented. Unfortunately, the principal barrier is Essex and Suffolk Water, which is out of the Mayor’s control.

Keith was directly elected and should be laser focused on critical local issues.

Notes

1 Andrew Rosindell, Boris Johnson and Gallows Corner, 2014-20 – Politics in Havering

2 Delayed Beam Park railway station moves forward with new planning application

3 DD2452 Beam Park Station | London City Hall

4 Margaret Mullane MP for Dagenham and Rainham has been more proactive Beam Park station update – Margaret Mullane

Addendum: Keith Princes questions to the Mayor: Sept-Nov 2025

Gallow’s Corner Question No: 2025/3095 Keith Prince Can you provide an update on TfL’s current timeline for the development project at Gallow’s Corner?¹
Freedom of Speech Question No: 2025/3385 Keith Prince What steps are you taking to ensure Londoners have the right to freedom of speech?²
Gallows Corner (2) Question No: 2025/3693 Keith Prince What consideration have you given to a compensation scheme for businesses at Gallows Corner who have been disrupted by the closure of the flyover and roundabout?³

A (Public Pack)Agenda Item 5 – Questions to the Mayor Agenda Supplement for London Assembly (Mayor’s Question Time), 11/09/2025 10:00

B London Assembly (Mayor’s Question Time) | London City Hall

C Keith’s question was given a full reply by the Mayor London Assembly (Mayor’s Question Time) | London City Hall

Havering’s Elections, 2nd May, 2024

Havering is Conservative heartland. Although they appear to be in terminal decline nationally, that is fake news.¹ When everything is against them, their ‘tribe’ rallies round. Susan Hall² and Keith Prince³ romped home with substantial majorities against Labour. Grim national polling wasn’t reflected in Havering.

Susan Hall

Even her best friends wouldn’t describe her as dynamic. Her role was to be a sacrificial lamb facing slaughter. Her memorable ‘policy’ was scrapping ULEZ from “day one”. Despite her simplistic politics, she trounced Sadiq Khan by 32,000+ votes.

Keith Prince

He has been a GLA Assembly member for eight years. He avoided campaigning on his record during those years. This was wise. Keith is chair of GLA’s Transport Committee and Havering has major issues. First and foremost is the 50 year old Gallows Corner flyover, which is a blot on the landscape. Keith’s political strategy is wringing his hands in horror. This was unsuccessful with Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan.

Speculation

Conservatives should be worried about the Reform party – aka UKIP. They got 19,696 votes as a name on a ballot paper. Reform is popular in Havering, being right-wing without policies. Their voters think they can make a difference and they’re right.

Damian White lost in the 2019 general election because of UKIP.⁴It’s impossible to know the impact on Andrew Rosindell but his majority is 17,893. If there’s a general election swing and a right-wing party, then he might be caught in a pincer movement. Julia Lopez’s majority is 23,000+ and only a political tsunami will shift her.

Notes

1 Since 2022 there have been seven defections from the Conservatives to HRA

2 havering_and_redbridge_mayoral_results_2024.pdf (londonelects.org.uk)

3 GLA Elections 2024: Havering and Redbridge Constituency Member results | The London Borough Of Havering

4 Damian White Scuppered by Nigel Farage! 12th December, 2019 – Politics in Havering

Extraordinary Council Meeting, 30th August 2023

Keith Prince is a Havering and GLA councillor. He chairs the GLA Transport committee, holding Mayor Khan to account. He’s in a powerful and unique position but what does Havering gain?

Havering is the GLA’s Ugly Duckling. We’ve been left out of SuperLoop, didn’t get a station at Beam Park, don’t have good north-south bus routes, electronic bus signs are rarely to seen, and Gallows Corner is a national joke. Keith might be lobbying but he annoys the Mayor. This meeting could have been Keith’s showcase. It was a disaster. His speech (1:33)¹ was ill-prepared, badly delivered and showed why Havering gets a raw deal from the GLA.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Virtually every councillor thinks Havering’s air is of unimprovable. Gerry O’Sullivan (1:06) blamed air pollution deaths, in part, on the 1953 Great Smog. Mandy Anderson ((1:09) quoted Boris Johnson bragging ULEZ would make London, “The greatest city on earth.” Dilip Patel (34) got technical with a critique of the Imperial College report. He made important points about tyres and brakes generating air pollution. Reg Whitney (52) said £12.50 was a permit to pollute. He said pollution could stop by 2028 if non-compliant cars were banned altogether, which is an excellent point.

Ray Best’s (1:18) family have 10 non-compliant vehicles.² Other councillors had personal horror stories but he won. The debate featured hand-wringing about the plight of poor people. Nisiha Patel (53) said her daughter, a doctor, would suffer. Perhaps a generous gift at her next birthday will soften the ULEZ blow.

Frankie Walker (1:25) said London was unfairly treated in comparison to Manchester and Bristol. Trevor McKeevor (1:30)³ quoted a Grant Shapps letter virtually ordering the Mayor to extend ULEZ.

It turns out that pay-per-mile will probably come in after 2030 to replace the money lost from people converting to electric vehicles which don’t pay Fuel Duty.

Stephanie Nunn, Havering’s Mayor, kept the debate moving by being ‘Firm but Fair’.

Addendum: Absent councillors

Robert Benham, Joshua Chapman, Osman Dervish, Jason Frost, Jane Keane, Robbie Misir, Matt Stanton, Christine Vickery, Damian White and Chris Wilkins. 10 out of 55

Notes

1 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Council, 30/08/2023 19:30 (havering.gov.uk) This is the wording of the single motion for debate. The debate webcast is here Annotator Player (sonicfoundry.com) Times indicate when a speaker began their speech. Prince = 1 hour 33 into the debate.

2 Perhaps he was inspired by the famous Four Yorkshire sketch? Four Yorkshiremen- Monty Python – YouTube

3 He also put a tetchy Chief Executive right (1:21) about councillors waiting to speak and so everyone got their turn even though the meeting was extended twice.

Keith Prince vs Damian White: 2022 Conservative Leadership Contest

Keith is a Conservative superstar¹ and fancies himself. He was re-elected a GLA Member in May, 2021 but it was a joyless victory. Sadiq Khan’s London Labour are tightening their grip and that’s the kiss of death for Keith who wants to be a mover-and-shaker. Keith now has his sights on Havering. The Havering Conservative Leadership election, 2022, could be blood-thirsty.

Political ironies pile up. Damian is vacating his seat in Squirrels Heath and moving to Havering-Atte-Bower. And who steps into Squirrels Heath ward? Keith!

Damian shouldn’t be underestimated. He’s politically adroit and built a coalition in 2018 out of nothing. For four years he’s used Special Responsibility Allowances² for the only electorate that matters: Conservative councillors. But that was then. What can Keith offer?

It takes a very brave Leader to re-jig allowances when it’s going to cost councillors money. Neither are going to do that. So the election depends on other things. And what might they be?

Damian has amiable contempt for his colleagues, which he conceals badly. The Bob Perry revelations about possible gerrymandering showed Damian’s unpleasant side. He’s also keen on councillors pulling their weight when it comes to campaigning. This is unpopular with elderly Conservatives who want a quiet life. Perhaps Keith will be more understanding?

This is predicated on the Conservatives forming an administration in 2022, which is far from certain. Keith could find himself rejected by Squirrels Heath’s voters and nursing even more thwarted ambitions.

Notes

1 Keith was a Havering councillor 1990-5; a Redbridge councillor 2003-18 (Leader 2009-14); GLA member 2016-present. He was re-elected in 2021 with a majority of 15,327. On 9th May 2022 Damian survived a leadership challenge by one vote but not by Keith but by stalking horse Robert Benham.

2 2020 Members Allowances final.pdf (havering.gov.uk) For the allowances of individual councillors see Havering Members Allowances 2018-19 summary This is slightly out of date but gives a reasonable idea.

Havering and the GLA Election, 2021

Damian White wept when he saw the results. Havering produced rock solid Conservative majorities whilst he struggles with a minority administration. A short political history lesson will explain why he’s suffering.

Fifty years ago, Jack Moultrie was the Conservative Leader of Havering Council who was dismissive of an Upminster housewife. Tragic error! That woman was the late, great Louise Sinclair. She despised the Romford-centric policies Jack embraced. He offered scraps from the table. She wanted more, much more.

Her formidable talents as an organiser and networker turbocharged the Residents’ Association (RA) movement. They fought and won elections in Upminster and Cranham. When Roger Ramsey was Leader in the 1980s, Upminster was nearly a Conservative no-go area. By 1990 it was. That feud shaped Havering’s politics so there would more-or-less be minority administrations. The RAs moved out of their heartlands taking over most of Hornchurch and south Havering.

To keep power, Damian has to do deals with RAs in one way or another.

Meanwhile the GLA election. ‘Tribal’ Conservative voters ignored the Gallows Corner disaster. Notwithstanding pre-election promises, I’m not holding my breath on that one. Shaun Bailey trounced Sadik Khan 51%-29%. His FaceBook campaign suggested there was lawlessness raging from Cranham to Heathrow. His grip on local government finance is strictly Ladybird and doesn’t inspire confidence. Another reason for Damian to weep.

Louise Sinclair changed Havering’s politics in the 1980s. She knew Jack Moultrie’s plan to turn Romford into central London was ridiculous. Louise knew what local politics means, good housekeeping and aspirations. We’ve got the housekeeping. Where, oh where, is the aspiration?

Keith Prince and Havering’s ‘Living in Havering’ magazine, April 2019

Keith Prince is Havering’s¹ Conservative GLA member and was awarded a full page in Havering Council’s taxpayer funded Living in Havering magazine, April 2019.² As he wrote this himself he must believe it puts him in a good light, in which case he’s made a tragic error of judgement. It shows him to be an appallingly ineffective representative for Havering.

Keith’s article begins by quoting himself. “On a daily basis, I fight for the transport upgrades that we so desperately need in Havering.” This is to get the reader in the mood for his dynamism. Even allowing for the hyperbole of a politician on the make, this is ludicrous. Keith was chair of the GLA’s Transport committee in the year 2017- 8. He was a ‘mover and shaker’ but nothing moved or shook, at least not so far as Havering was concerned. Perhaps Redbridge benefited?

Keith, rightly, identifies two major problems in Havering. The ‘perennial’ Gallows Corner fly-over and Ardleigh Green Bridge roadworks. Keith claims to have been ‘banging the drum’ over Gallows Corner. Well I went through the papers for his year as chair and found nothing.³ Perhaps I missed something- “a drum being banged” “…TfL’s feet being held to the fire”- for example.

Keith has moved out of the shadows with this article. In broad daylight he looks ineffective. Now he has a motive for improving his performance. He’s got two weeks before the next election, which in a Johnson sleaze atmosphere might be bracing.

1 Strictly speaking he is Havering and Redbridge’s GLA member. So perhaps he’s putting in more time on their problems to Havering’s detriment

2 https://issuu.com/haveringcouncil/docs/5617_living_185_issuu_ p18 This full page ‘advert’ would normally cost £1400.

3 All I could find was an exchange between Mayor Johnson and Roger Evans, Havering’s previous GLA member, on the 22^nd October 2014, where Johnson promised to come to Havering to look for himself. Evans grovelled to Johnson in an entertaining way.