Councillor Attendance: 2025 Wrapped

We've reached the end of another year and the elections are just over 120 days away!

So, let's take a look at councillor attendance for 2025 and the running totals since the elections in May 2022.

Before we start, the usual disclaimer...

Turning up to meetings is not the only things Councillors do. There's casework, visiting residents, attending community groups and so on. It is worth noting that some Councillors have experienced serious illness during this period and so, as always, I want to remind you that I am not passing any personal judgement on these figures. This is just a reporting of the data. I've chosen not to highlight who was ill, as it's not my place to break their news for them. But, please bear that in mind when looking at the data

2025

2025 - By party

Party	Expected At	Attended	%	Ave Missed Meetings
HRA	483	406	84%	3.21
Con	228	176	77%	3.25
Lab	128	104	81%	2.66
EHRG	34	32	94%	0.66
Ind	28	21	75%	3.5
Ref	19	17	89%	2

2025 - Top 10 Councillors

The following councillors have attended the most meetings in 2025.

Only myself and the council Leader, Ray Morgon, have a 100% attendance for 2025.

Councillor	Expected	Present	%	Party	Missed meetings
Christine Smith	30	29	97%	HRA	1
Matthew Stanton	29	28	97%	Lab	1
David Taylor	26	26	100%	Con	0
Jane Keane	26	25	96%	Lab	1
Robby Misir	34	24	71%	HRA	10
Julie Wilkes	24	23	96%	HRA	1
John Crowder	25	21	84%	HRA	4
Gillian Ford	23	21	91%	HRA	2
Ray Morgon	21	21	100%	HRA	0
Ray Best	24	20	83%	Con	4

2025 - overall

The average councillor has

• Been expected at 16.7 meetings since 1st Jan 2025 - 1.39 per month

• Has attended an average of 13.74 meetings (82%) - 1.14 per month

Using an average meeting length of 2 hours, I conclude that the average councillor has been in meetings for 27.48 hours in 2025. For this they have been paid a minmum of £10,412 (pre-tax), which is roughly £378.89 per hour.

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Attendance since May 2022

Our current councillors were elected in May 2022 and will serve until May 2026. So, let's take a look at thier attendance since then. First as political groups and then the notable individuals.

By party

OK, the juicy bit! Which political group has the best attendance?

Reform (new this year and consisting only of Councillor Keith Prince) take the top spot for attendance. Prince has attended 97% of meetings he was expected at. The independent group sit at the bottom with just 71.2%

You'll notice that some parties are expected at a lot more meetings that others. This is due to a few factors. The HRA, for example, are running Havering and so have regular Cabinet meetings. The HRA also have more councillors and so get more slots on committees etc. The EHRG, Independents, and Reform do not get a seat on many of the committees, giving them a lower 'expected at' figure.

Party	Expected At	Attended	%	Average Missed
HRA	1821	1563	86%	10.32
Con	919	710	77.2%	13.06
Lab	530	445	84%	10.63
EHRG	151	131	87%	6.66
Ind	104	74	71.2%	15
Ref	69	66	97%	3

When a political group is smaller a single councillor's attendance can dramatically lower the group total. So to, in reverse, a good councillor attendance can be drowned out in a larger party.

So, let's look at the top individuals.

Top individuals

Who has the best attendance?

I've broken the data down into two catergories. Highest % and most attended.

Highest %

Only Cllr Martin Goode has a 100% attendance record. However, five councillors have acheived over 90% attendance. They are; Myself, Bryan Vincent (HRA), Christine Smith (HRA), Ray Morgon (HRA) and Julie Wilkes (HRA).

Most attended

Taking the top 10 councillors by the number of meetings attended, they have been expected at an average of 95.1 meetings and attended and avergae of 86.3 (91%).

The high attendance % is important because there is little value in being expected at a lot of meetings if you don't turn up

Councillor	Expected	Present	%	Party	Missed meetings
David Taylor	102	94	92%	Con	8
Bryan Vincent	108	94	87%	HRA	14
Christine Smith	100	93	93%	HRA	7
Ray Morgon	95	91	96%	HRA	4
Julie Wilkes	99	90	91%	HRA	9
Gillian Ford	96	86	90%	HRA	10
Matthew Stanton	91	84	92%	Lab	7
Laurance Garrard	100	82	82%	HRA	18
Christopher Wilkins	82	76	93%	HRA	6

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Conclusion

These figures don't tell you the whole story.

We can't see who is ill, who is working outside of the meetings, but I do believe it is important for Councillors to turn up to meetings in the Town Hall.

Councillors are not just elected to do the community stuff, although that is nice. We're elected to debate, pass policy, scrutinise decisions and spending, and to make sure you (our residents) get the best from the council.

This is why I obsess over meeting attendance figures. Because if you're not turning up to meetings, where policy is written and changed, then I don't think you can really complain about policy.

Of course, scrutiny starts with self, and this is why I publish all of my payslips for my role as a Councillor. It's also why I am so loud about what I do, so you can keep account of my actions.

I've not got this perfect, but I hope this level of transparency is welcomed.

I also hope you feel that you're getting value for money, as you pay our wages!

Do you think councillors are doing the work they should be?

• Yes
• No
• Unsure

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Data taken from Havering Council's website on 24th December 2025

Download an excel of the data below.

Cllr Attendance 2025.xlsx

Download XLSX • 24KB

VIew on Havering's website at https://democracy.havering.gov.uk/mgUserAttendanceSummary.aspx?XXR=0&DR=01%2f05%2f2022-25%2f12%2f2025&ACT=Go