User:Tombricks/sandbox

* The HRA is a group of residents' associations and some HRA candidates run under local residents association labels. The HRA members of the council include Graham Williamson who is also a member of the National Liberal Party. ** Both independent councillors sit as the Residents' Association Independent Group. Councillor John Tyler is listed as Leader of the Residents' Association Independent Group.

Following the 2022 election, the council remained under no overall control with the Conservatives remaining the largest party but still shy of a majority. After weeks of negotiations, and following Labour's rejection of a confidence and supply arrangement, a coalition arrangement was reached between the HRA and Labour which saw Ray Morgon appointed Leader of the Council with a majority HRA cabinet and a minority of Labour members. John Tyler, residents association councillor for Cranham, announced he would leave the HRA Group in the weeks after the coalition was formed, stating that bringing national party politics into local governemnt was "fundamentally against [his] principles".

In September 2022, three Conservative councillors jointly announced they were joining the HRA due to a lack of support from their party after the July wildfires in Wennington. The death of HRA councillor Linda Hawthorn in May 2023 saw a by-election in Upminster where the group kept their seat. In January 2024, Conservative councillor Robby Misir joined the HRA having criticised his former party's local leader Keith Prince over a debate about school transport. Three more Conservative councillors defected to the HRA in late April.

On 22 May 2024, at the annual meeting of the full council, the HRA elected their own councillor Gerry O'Sullivan to be the ceremonial Mayor of Havering. This came as a shock to the Labour Group which expected their outgoing Deputy Mayor Patricia Brown to be elected mayor as is tradition. Labour councillor Trevor McKeever described it as breaking the coalition agreement and local Labour leader Keith Darvill described it as a breach of trust. Patricia Brown herself said that "HRA members have demonstrated time and again over the past two years that self-service comes before working together for the benefit of residents". For its part, the HRA disagreed and stated that their was nothing on the mayoralty included in their agreement. During the meeting, Labour councillor Paul McGeary abstained on voting for Labour's candidates for the mayoralty and for the chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, with him defecting to the HRA just over a week later. With only Labour leader Keith Darvill left representing his party in the cabinet, the HRA decided on 3 June 2024 to end the agreement and govern as a minority administration. Darvill criticised the HRA for "populism and empty gesture petty politics". Both Morgon and Darvill admitted that the end of the coalition was expected.