Following last week's Full Council, Cllr Paul Swaddle outlined how the new Conservative administration had already delivered a strong start in just six weeks, as Westminster had voted for change, while Labour had spent its first opportunity in opposition grandstanding instead of helping residents. He said the council had inherited a serious financial mess from Labour and would now judge every programme by one standard: value for money. He also highlighted early enforcement action, including a new Cabinet Member for Enforcement, work with the Met and Apple on stolen phones, action against rogue pedicabs and fake goods, and stronger action on illegal traders, dockless bikes, and short-term lets.

At Full Council last week, I set out what one month of Conservative leadership looks like. 

Six weeks ago, Westminster voted for change. At Full Council last week, Labour used their first opportunity as the opposition to grandstand on the very platform residents had rejected just weeks earlier.

We sided with local people and declined to adopt it. Instead, I set out our record of achievements in just six weeks. 

The inheritance Labour left us 

The financial situation we have inherited from Labour is unprecedented in Westminster's history. 

Labour's own Government is stripping Westminster of £75.6 million in grant funding over three years. 

How did the previous Labour-led council respond? 

• Waste £27 million on the Geoffrey Osborne contractor failure. 
• Give senior councillors 62% pay rises 
• Plan to hike council tax hikes by up to 75% over four years to pay for their reckless mismanagement. 

I am leading a Conservative administration that is doing things differently. 

Every programme we run will be judged against one test: value for money. That is what governing responsibly looks like. 

Delivering on our promise: real Action on Enforcement 

Six weeks in, this Conservative administration has taken more action on enforcement than Labour managed in four years. Here is the record: 

• Day one: Cllr Caroline Sargent appointed as the first ever Cabinet Member for Enforcement in Westminster's history. Under Labour, no one was accountable. That has changed 
• After years of Conservative pressure, the Met and Apple have struck a landmark deal to make stolen phones worthless to criminals 
• Cllr Sargent out on the streets alongside the Met pulling rip-off pedicabs off the road directly 
• Welcomed trading standards to seize thousands of pounds of fake goods this month alone. 
• I have written directly to the Director General of the National Crime Agency to demand action on the criminal networks behind Westminster's illegal traders 
• Real-time data sharing agreement secured with Lime and a dockless bike summit confirmed 
• Unprecedented meeting secured with Airbnb on illegal short-term lets 

 Labour had four years. We have had six weeks. The contrast speaks for itself.