“Hexit Would Leave Residents Significantly Worse Off,” Says Councillor Prince New Reform Council Leader.

Local democracy reporter Sebastian Mann today writes in the Havering Daily.

Proposals for Havering to leave the Greater London Authority – dubbed ‘Hexit’ – would leave residents “significantly worse off,” the new Reform council leader says.

Advocates of the idea say it will free the borough from the high-cost control of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and realign the area with its Essex identity, but critics say it would risk losing the Freedom Pass and increasing service costs.

Hexit is a portmanteau of Havering and exit, similar to the successful ‘Brexit’ campaign for Britain to exit the European Union. It is not an official Reform policy.

Havering leader Councillor Keith Prince – himself an “Essex boy” – told the chamber this week he could understand people’s “attachment to our historic county identity,” but it was “quite clear” Hexit would not be a success.

“Let me make this crystal clear: at this moment in time, from the research I have done, it’s quite clear that many of our residents would be significantly worse off financially if we were to leave London,” he said in his maiden speech as leader.

“While there are those who are emotionally attached to the attraction of leaving London, I and this administration are yet to be presented with a well-thought-out, researched and costed proposal that outlines the benefits to our residents.

“Therefore, we will not be wasting our time pursuing Hexit or leaving the GLA.

“We will be concentrating our time and energies getting Havering back on track.”

The Conservatives – prior to their total wipeout in the recent elections – agreed with the Havering Residents Association, then leaders of the council, that Hexit would be a “risk too far”.

Cllr Prince added that the only way to improve Havering’s standing in the GLA was to “throw out” current Labour mayor Sadiq Khan in the 2028 elections and replace him with Reform candidate Laila Cunningham.

If Havering was to leave the GLA, then the council would be replaced with a unitary authority.

Unitary authorities are single-tier councils that oversee all local services in an area, including social care, education, housing and rubbish. It would then “buy in” certain services from London, such as the Freedom Pass – which makes most travel free for disabled people and pensioners – and the Metropolitan Police.

Leaving the GLA would require an Act of Parliament and could not be achieved by Havering Council alone.

Romford MP Andrew Rosindell, who defected from the Conservatives in January, has been one of the most high-profile proponents of Hexit.

He has pledged a referendum on the borough’s future in London and called for Havering to “govern ourselves again”.

He wrote in the Havering Daily, shortly after his party’s victory: “The time has come to fight to put Havering in a better place; restore pride to Romford; defend our character as a town-and-country borough; achieve a fairer financial settlement for Havering; and return to being a fully self-governing local authority, free from control of City Hall.

“All of this is now within reach.”

“We need a different arrangement for boroughs like Havering, which are not even in London,” Rosindell said prior to the elections.

“We orbit London but we are not in London.”

He added that the borough had paid “hundreds of millions” into the GLA over the decades but had not received “value for money,” adding that the area “survived perfectly well” before the borough was invented in 1965.

The GLA levies money from the 32 London borough councils by taking a cut of council tax, which often rises 2% each year in tandem with local hikes. It averages out at around £490 a year for a standard band-D property in the capital.

It pays for citywide services such as the Met, London Fire Brigade, and transport.

The GLA also provides grants to boroughs to pay for things such as social housing.

In 2024, the council was given £24million to build 160 new homes across the borough.

Earlier this year, a food bank in Rainham was a beneficiary of a shared £1.8m GLA fund.

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