Archie Foulds replaced by Navin Shah

27th Jul 2004

Last night Harrow's ruling Labour group accepted the resignation of its leader, Archie Foulds, and elected the present deputy and his close colleague from Kenton East, Navin Shah, to take his place. He remains leader of the council until October, when the Labour group will probably have the council appoint Navin Shah to that position too.

In a statement Mr Foulds said: "I would like to thank all those who have worked hard with me to ensure that Harrow has had a stable administration, despite being a 'no overall control council'.  This stability has been achieved through good teamwork between members and officers, which I am sure will continue."

Navin Shah has been making most public appearances in place of Archie Foulds for some considerable time how.

It is believed by HCTC that Archie Foulds resigned for personal reasons.

Navin Shah originally trained as a architect, and maintains active links with the construction industry. As member of the council's Unitary Development Plan Advisory Panel, he helps form policy concerning large development projects in the borough.

Cllr Shah is a prime mover in a plan to "twin" Harrow with a town called Bhuj in India, at the instigation of the president of the Shree Swarminaryan Hindu temple in Edgware. On a visit to India earlier this year he received strong backing from local politicians in the region, but Cllr Foulds said at the time that it was important to determine what benefits Harrow would get from the twinning and stated that the project must be self-financing. HCTC will be watching developments with interest.