Hounslow Conservative councillor Satwant Kaur has resigned the party whip pending an investigation after failing to declare her directorship of a company. The move comes as Labour accuses the Conservatives of hypocrisy over their handling of similar allegations against a Labour cabinet member.
Failure to declare directorship
Cllr Kaur, who represents Heston West, is listed as the current director of Sanjam Properties Ltd on Companies House. However, this was not included in her register of interests when contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). Sanjam Properties appears to be an active company with assets and accounts, meaning the position would amount to a 'disclosable pecuniary interest'. She also failed to declare that she was the director of Mobile Touch Working Ltd until July 2026.
Cllr Kaur told the LDRS that the directorship is part of her main business, which she has declared in full. She has self-referred to the monitoring officer at Hounslow Council and resigned the Conservative whip, meaning she will sit as an independent councillor until the matter is settled.
Councillor's response and Conservative position
She said: “The active directorship in question is a part of my main business, which I have declared in full. Given it is part of a fully declared business, I do not believe it needs a separate declaration. Nevertheless, I have referred the issue to the monitoring officer for further guidance.
“Whilst I await their ruling, I have removed myself from the Conservative whip. Unlike Labour, I take the issue of declaring interests extremely seriously and look forward to this being resolved.”
The Hounslow Conservative Group said: “Cllr Kaur has explained that this active directorship is part of an already declared business, however out of an abundance of caution she has referred herself to the monitoring officer for advice.
“Issues of declaring business interests are extremely serious, and as a group we practice what we preach - that is why it is right that Cllr Kaur has been asked to resign the Conservative whip pending advice from the monitoring officer. That is in stark contrast to the Hounslow Labour Group, who refuse to take any action against Sue Sampson, the councillor in charge of housing who is currently under investigation for hiding her directorship of a property company using a different name.”
Labour accuses Tories of hypocrisy
Hounslow Labour are accusing the Conservatives of "hypocrisy" after the group had called for Cllr Sue Sampson, the Labour Cabinet Member for Housing, to resign after the LDRS revealed that she had not declared her directorship of a property firm under a different name, Susan Lockyer.
A spokesperson for Hounslow Labour told the LDRS: “This is some staggering hypocrisy by the Conservative Party in Hounslow. Councillors are required to declare disclosable pecuniary interests by law.
“These are business interests from which a councillor might make financial gain. Failure to declare them is a serious breach of the Members Code of Conduct. Despite making up barely a quarter of the councillors elected last May, you would think the Conservatives should be able to keep track of their small group, including Conservative councillors failing to declare their business interests.
“The message from the Tories is always the same – do as I say, not as I do.”
Cllr Sampson maintains that this is not a recent arrangement and there has never been any attempt to conceal the connection between the two names, with her election records in 2018 noting she is known as Sue Sampson. The Conservatives say their action is in "stark contrast" to Hounslow Labour, who have yet to take any action against Cllr Sampson, who remains in charge of housing and homelessness in the borough.
