The Conservative leader of a flagship London borough has resigned after just 44 days in charge.
Aled Richards-Jones said he could no longer give the role “the time and focus it deserves” alongside his job as a partner in a law firm.
The Tories seized back control of Wandsworth town hall from Labour at the local elections on May 7 in what was a devastating night for Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
The Conservatives won 29 seats to Labour’s 28 and made a deal with sole independent councillor, Malcolm Grimston, to get votes through and lead the council.
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP, Labour MP for Tooting, said: "Wandsworth Council needs full-time leadership, not a part-time Tory leader whose cabinet members spend more time infighting than working for the people of Wandsworth.
“Currently, there are thousands of families on the housing waiting list. It is shocking that his first act as council leader was to scrap hundreds of planned council homes.
“With Wandsworth in no overall control, local residents deserve so much better than more Tory chaos."
The new administration has argued it has to make £137million of cuts to the borough’s budget and residents face council tax hikes after central government grant funding was slashed.
Simon Hogg, Leader of Wandsworth Labour, added: "Wandsworth’s Tory council is in chaos.
“Their leader has resigned just 44 days after the election.
“His legacy is taking food vouchers away from children and scrapping council homes for 400 local people.
“Once again, the Tory Party is putting in-fighting ahead of serving local residents."
Mr Richards-Jones confirmed he would stay on in his role as a councillor for the Northcote ward.
“It has been an honour to serve as Group Leader for more than two years, following three years as Group Whip,” he said in a statement.
“Since I joined the partnership of a law firm last year, I have worked hard to balance increasing professional responsibilities with the demands of my political role.
“I felt it was right to continue leading the Group into the election and through the formation of the new administration.
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“Over that time, the team into which I was recruited has achieved a level of success that has already outpaced our expectations, and as a result, my professional responsibilities have grown more quickly than expected.
“It is now clear to me that I can no longer give the role of leader the time and focus it deserves alongside those responsibilities.”
Putney MP Fleur Anderson said Wandsworth residents “deserve council leaders who work for them full time, not as a hobby”.
She added: “Cllr Richards-Jones and his team were clearly unprepared for the demands of running a serious council.
“If the Wandsworth Tories are readying to make swinging cuts to the council, which will hit our most vulnerable residents the hardest, the least they could do is to take their work seriously."
Wandsworth Conservatives said a new council leader would be elected in the “coming days”.
A spokesman added: “Aled has served as Group Leader for the past two years, successfully leading the Conservative Group from opposition back into administration at the first time of asking at the 2026 local elections.
“This election victory saw the Conservatives gain seats across Putney, Tooting and Battersea.
“His administration has laid solid foundations for repairing the damage inherited from the previous Labour administration.
“He returns to the backbenches to continue his eight years of service as a councillor, six of which have been in senior leadership positions both in administration and opposition.”