The Community Group, also known as the Independent Community Group (ICG), and registered with the Electoral Commission as the Community (London Borough of Hounslow), was a small political party based in

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of se ...

in the

London Borough of Hounslow The London Borough of Hounslow () is a London borough in West London, England, forming part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 when three smaller borough councils (forming part of the former Middlesex County Council area) amalgamated under ...

. The party was founded on 1 January 1994 as the Isleworth Community Group to build a "vibrant community" and to advocate public participation within the decision making processes. It was non-ideological, aiming to reflect local public opinion, and criticised the "incestuous nature of establishment politics".

Elections

The first member of the group joined the council after the 1998 local elections. Following the 2006 local elections, the group had six councillors, representing Isleworth (Paul Fisher, Phil Andrews and Genevieve Hibbs) and Syon wards (Shirley Fisher, Caroline Andrews and Jon Hardy). They accepted an offer to form a coalition administration with the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

group of councillors. This lasted until the Community Group lost all their seats to the Labour Party in the 2010 local elections. The group then debated whether or not to field council candidates in the future. It ultimately did stand in the 2014 local elections, but was again unsuccessful, and in 2016 decided to dissolve.

Activities

The party had a motion passed in 2007 that called on the council not to invite the local MPs,

Ann Keen Ann Lloyd Keen (''née'' Fox; born 26 November 1948) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Isleworth from 1997, until she was defeated by Conservative candidate Mary Macleod in 2010. ...

and

Alan Keen David Alan Keen (25 November 1937 – 10 November 2011) was a British Labour Co-operative politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Feltham and Heston (UK Parliament constituency), Feltham and ...

to council events, because the MPs had protested about the inclusion of former National Front member Phil Andrews in the council's new decision-making executive. It did not stand in the 2010 general election in an attempt to increase the chances of the Keens losing, although Alan Keen held his seat by a comfortable margin. In March 2009, the party's councillors opposed the expansion of the sewage works in

Mogden Ivybridge, formerly Mogden, is a housing estate in the southern part of Isleworth in West London. Formerly agricultural, it was the site of Mogden Isolation Hospital, later South Middlesex Hospital, from 1897 to 1991. The area is usually now call ...

. The ICG then helped organise a protest against the expansion in April 2009.

Members

Genevieve Hibbs, a former nurse first elected to represent Isleworth in 2002, was the Mayor of Hounslow for a year from May 2008. Phil Andrews was a member of the National Front from 1977 to 1989, which he says he is "indescribably" ashamed of and now campaigns against racism.

Council elections

References

External links

Old website
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

List of Hounslow councillors by partyPhil Andrews' blog
'' Hounslow Chronicle'', May 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Community Group Political parties established in 1994 Political parties disestablished in 2016 Locally based political parties in England Politics of the London Borough of Hounslow 1994 establishments in England 2016 disestablishments in England Defunct political parties in England