Brent Council has assured residents that its elected officials will be held to account, despite the Labour party’s domination in its make-up.

Of the 60 councillors elected in Brent last week, 57 represent Labour. This sparked concerns over the realistic scope of challenging some of their decisions.

Derick Rehans, who stood as a Liberal Democrat in the 2018 elections, tweeted that Brent was a “one party council” and there was “nobody there to hold [it] accountable”.

But the council noted that there are a series of measures in place to ensure that it is sufficiently examined.

A spokesperson for Brent Council said: “Regardless of the political control of the council, there are mechanisms in place to ensure that the work of any administration is properly scrutinised.

“Council meetings are open to the public to attend and we have a number of committees that scrutinise the work of the council.

“We have an independent chair of our Standards and Audit committee and a number of independent non-councillors sitting on a range of committees too, to provide even greater reassurance that the council is properly held to account.

“Council officers give professional and impartial advice regardless of the political balance in the council and when key decisions are to be made, this is most commonly advice that is made public.”

It added that there are opportunities for the public to put forward Freedom of Information requests, take part in consultations and present petitions.

The Electoral Reform Society has called for proportional voting to be introduced at local elections.

It argues that this system would stop the creation of ‘one party councils’, improve democracy and ensure that “results reflect how people actually vote”.