The leader of Wandsworth Council has defeated a vote of no confidence in his leadership.

The motion was brought forward at a meeting last week of the ruling Conservative group (January 9).

Councillor Ravi Govindia has headed up the flagship Conservative council for nearly a decade, after becoming leader in May 2011.

He replaced Sir Edward Lister, now the chief strategic adviser to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It is understood that some members were worried that the party could lose to Labour at the next council elections in 2022 and needed a change in leadership, after an embarrassing loss to Labour at the General Election in December.

But in fact Putney was the only seat that Labour gained from the Conservatives.

It was formerly the seat of Justine Greening, who stepped down from the party over Brexit.

However the borough’s Labour group are seen by some  to be catching up with the Conservatives following the 2018 local elections, where they won the popular vote and increased their councillors to 26.

They are now just seven seats behind the Tories on 33.

The Conservatives have controlled the council since 1978.

In a statement Cllr Govindia said he was “honoured” that his colleagues had “renewed their trust” in his leadership at the council.

He said: “Wandsworth is a fantastic place; it has been my home for more than four decades, and it is a borough of opportunities and aspiration.  It is a great privilege to work with so many excellent colleagues to make this fantastic borough even more so.

“At the same meeting, we agreed an ambitious action plan to tackle climate change to make Wandsworth inner London’s greenest borough, together with our commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030. This goes hand-in-hand with continuing to deliver an impressive house building programme and attracting more job opportunities for one of the youngest populations of any London borough.  All this whilst maintaining our record of good quality services.

 “I will continue to work tirelessly with everyone at the Town Hall and beyond to deliver on our promises to Wandsworth residents and to ensure Wandsworth remains the cleaner, greener and safer borough.  It is now time for all who share the vision of a fantastic future for Wandsworth to come on board.”

Despite his most recent win, Cllr Govindia could still face a challenge at the Tory councillors’ annual meeting in May.