The Labour group voted out its leader at a meeting on Saturday.

Councillor Ann John said she was “devastated” to have been defeated by just two votes after an 11-year tenure as leader of the group.

She was the leader of Brent Council from 2001 to 2006 and leader of the opposition from 2006 to 2010.

She was re-elected as council leader following Labour's election victory in May 2010.

The news comes just a week after she was given the all-clear and found not guilty of attempting to sway the vote over changing Old Union Hall Road in Union Road, Wembley, into a Hindu Temple.

She said: “I’m really stunned and so was everyone else. I didn’t expect to be defeated at all.

“But I will still take my role as councillor very seriously. People in my ward have been voting me in for 22 years, so I’m not about to let them all down.”

Her role as leader has been replaced by Councillor Mohammed Butt.