A Labour councillor has hit out at the Havering Residents Association (HRA) after the group overlooked her for the borough's mayoral position.

Pat Brown, Labour member for Gooshays, criticised the move to elect HRA councillor Gerry O'Sullivan as Havering mayor instead of her even though she had been serving as deputy mayor.

She accused the administration of breaking a working agreement between the two parties, something the HRA denies.

The HRA cut ties with the Labour group on June 3 to end a two-year alliance running Havering Council, and govern the council as a minority administration.

Keith Darvill, leader of the Labour group, previously said the HRA had agreed Cllr Brown would become mayor after HRA councillor Stephanie Nunn's term ended, but the HRA said such an agreement was not in place.

Cllr Darvill called the move a “break in trust” and a “fundamental reason” for the split.

After Cllr O'Sullivan instead took the position, Cllr Brown accused the HRA of "peddling lies" over what happened and said she felt "shocked and appalled".

She claimed that the long-standing agreement was to have two mayors and two deputy mayors from the HRA and Labour over four years.

"I would have been honoured to be Mayor of Havering," Cllr Brown said. "I most certainly was prepared to be mayor after a year of supporting the HRA mayor."

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Cllr Ray Morgon thanked the Labour Group for its support since 2022.Cllr Ray Morgon  (Image: Havering Council)

We approached council leader Ray Morgon and HRA chairman Gillian Ford, who both declined to comment, and instead referred us to a party statement put out via The Havering Daily.

In it, on May 23 this year, the HRA said: "A working agreement was established which included the membership of the cabinet, seven HRA, two Labour. 

"There was no inclusion on the role of mayor."

The HRA also claimed the party was told by Cllr Darvill, a former cabinet member, that Cllr Brown did not wish to become mayor. 

But Cllr Brown claimed the HRA's statement was "entirely untrue" and lashed out at the governing party.

"Why would I have allowed the Labour group to put my nomination forward if I did not want to be mayor?" she questioned.

"I have not lied about this issue. I am not a liar and I will not have my integrity questioned," Cllr Brown added.