Last updated Sunday 6 May.
Main points on the elections held on Thursday 3 May 2018.
- Labour has failed to win its top targets of Barnet and Wandsworth, and long shot hopes of victory in Westminster have not been realised either. However, the party has equaled its record of having majorities on 21 of the capital’s 32 borough councils, set in 1971. All four directly elected borough mayors are Labour too.
- The Liberal Democrats have taken Kingston and – with the help of the Greens – Richmond from the Conservatives. They’ve also held off the Tory challenge in Sutton. The increase in their total from one borough to three has made them pretty happy.
- Labour has strengthened its hold on a string of councils in the capital, notably Tower Hamlets, Redbridge and Hammersmith & Fulham, seen its majorities slip slightly in Greenwich and Merton and a bit more than slightly in Haringey.
- The Conservatives have also held Hillingdon with a slightly increased majority over Labour, and Bexley, Bromley and Kensington & Chelsea with slightly decreased ones. They now have control of seven boroughs altogether, a reduction of two compared with 2014. The Tories are also again the largest party in Havering, the one borough still under No Overall Control.
- The Greens looked in danger of being rubbed off the borough map, but have ended up with 11 seats, including five in Lambeth. UKIP, though, have been erased everywhere.
- Special mention: Wandsworth Independent Malcolm Grimston who successfully defended the seat he’d first won as a Conservative to the tune of 4,002 votes – a remarkable achievement.
See below a list of results in all 32 London boroughs in alphabetical order. The changes in seats numbers and majorities are by comparison with the 2014 results.
Barking & Dagenham – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 51 [-].
Labour majority: 51 [-]
A Labour wipe out, just as in 2014. No contest.
Barnet – CONSERVATIVE GAIN
Seats: Con 38 [+6], Lab 25 [-5], Lib Dem 0 [-1].
Conservative majority: 13 [+12].
The Tories had run the borough with a majority of one until a few weeks ago when a de-selected councillor became an Independent, placing the council under No Overall Control Now they have a healthy majority. No-one expected such a decisive result and Labour’s disappointment is profound.
Bexley – Conservative Hold
Seats: Con 34 [-1], Lab 11 [+1].
Conservative majority: 23 [-5].
The number of seats in Bexley has been slashed from 63 to 45, which is why the fall on the Tory majority looks too big. Nice for Labour to pick up a seat, but it will be Tory business as usual (expect smaller).
Brent – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 57 [+4], Con 3 [-3], Lib Dem 0 [-1].
Labour majority: 53 [+4].
One of that string of Labour boroughs to increase already huge majorities by a few seats more.
Bromley – Conservative Hold
Seats: Con 50 [-1], Lab 8 [+1], Independent 2 [+2], UKIP 0 [-2].
Conservative majority: 40 [-2].
One seat lost by the Tories but they still reached the half-century, and UKIP have been expunged. Bromley was London’s location for the Voter ID pilot and its conclusions are awaited with interest.
Camden – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 43 [+3], Con 7 [-5], Lib Dem 3 [+2], Green 1 [-].
Labour majority: 32 [+6].
Happiness all round except for the Tories in this Remain kind of borough.
Croydon – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 41 [+1], Con 29 [-1].
Labour majority: 12 [+2]
One Labour seat gain slightly strengthens their hold.
Ealing – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 57 [+4], Con 8 [-4], Lib 4 [-].
Labour majority: 45 [+8].
The post-2010 trend towards Labour continues in one of party’s bigger consolidations.
Enfield – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 46 [+5], Con 17 [-5].
Labour majority: 29 [+10].
Labour grip gets tighter in London’s most north-reaching borough.
Greenwich – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 42 [-1], Con 9 [+1].
Labour majority: 33 [-2].
Labour majority reduced very slightly, shock.
Hackney – Labour Mayor & Council Hold
Mayoral Election (first preferences): Philip Glanville (Lab) 66%; Imtiyaz Lunat (Con) 11%; Alastair Binnie-Lubbock (Green) 10.5%; Pauline Pearce (Lib Dem) 7.5%; Harni Iyengar (Women’s Equality) 4%; Vernon Williams (Ind) 1%. Glanville elected by passing 50%.
Council Seats: Lab 52 [+2], Con 5 [+1], Lib Dem 0 [-3].
Labour majority: 47 [+3].
A predictably huge win for Philip Glanville in the World’s Greatest Borough and Labour have picked up two extra council seats too. The Tories have also gained a seat. That’s why the Lib Dems are down to none.
Hammersmith & Fulham – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 35 [+9], Con 11 [-9], Lib 0 [-], UKIP 0 [-].
Labour majority: 24.
Not a sniff of a Tory comeback in what was until 2104 a national flagship for them. Labour now in commanding position here.
Haringey – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 42 [-6], Lib Dem 15 [+6].
Labour majority: 27 [-12].
Voters in the affluent west of the borough took against the idea of the first “Corbyn Council” by switching to the Lib Dems and knocking a hole in Labour’s still considerable majority.
Harrow – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 35 [+1], Con 28 [+2], Ind 0 [-2], Lib Dem 0 [-1].
Labour majority: 7 [+2].
This was a nervy campaign for Labour for a while, but they came through slightly stronger than four years ago in the end.
Havering – No Overall Control (no change)
Seats: Con 25 [+3], Residents (Assorted) 23 [-1], Lab 4 [+3], Independent 1 [+1], UKIP 0 [-7].
No overall control.
There is no other borough remotely like Havering except, in strange way, Tower Hamlets. The Conservatives have ticked up a bit, as have Labour, but its the diffusive, disputatious Residents Association grouplets that hold the balance of power. Last time, a bunch of them went into coalition with the Tories, driving the others wild. This may well happen again. UKIP, meanwhile, are history.
Hillingdon – Conservative Hold
Con 44 [+2], Lab 21 [-2].
Conservative majority: 23 [+4].
Disappointing result for Labour in a borough some thought they might even win this time.
Hounslow – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 51 [+2], Con 9 [-2].
Labour majority: 42 [+4].
Labour’s dominion spread a little further.
Islington – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 47 [-], Green 1 [-].
Labour majority: 46 [-].
Caroline Russell remains the one-person opposition. Labour remain the 47-strong block she must oppose. As you were.
Kensington & Chelsea – Conservative Hold
Seats: Con 36 (-1), Lab 13 (+1).
Conservative majority: 23 [-2].
Whoever put it about that RBKC might fall to Labour was either fooling themselves or didn’t look at the numerical cliff face advantages the Tories have in a long list of the boroughs wards. It was never in play.
Kingston – LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GAIN
Seats: Lib Dem 39 [+21], Con 9 [-19], Lab 0 [-2].
Lib Dem majority: 30.
A Lib Dem comeback here always looked likely and Tory claims that their ground machine wasn’t working look to have been seriously unfounded.
Lambeth – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 57 [-2], Green 5 [+4], Con 1 [-2].
Labour majority: 51 [-4].
Lambeth looked primed to be another Labour wipe-out, but the Greens had other ideas and will delighted with their haul of five.
Lewisham – Labour Mayor & Council Hold
Mayoral Election (first preferences): Damien Egan (Lab) 54%; Ross Archer 9con) 13%; John Coughlin (Green) 10%; Chris Maines (Lib Dem) 8%; Duwayne Brooks (Ind) 7%; John Hamilton (People Before Profit) 6%; Will Donnelly (Democrats & Dreamers) 1%. Egan elected by passing 50%.
Council Seats: Lab 54 [+1], Green 0 [-1].
Labour majority: 54 [+2].
No problem for the successor to outgoing Mayor Sir Steve Bullock. The Greens’ loss of their single seat from 2014 makes Lewisham another Labour wipe-out borough.
Merton – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 34 [-2], Con 17 [-3], Lib Dem 6 [+5], Residents 3 [-]
Labour majority: 8 [-4].
Bit disappointing for Labour to lose two seats and see its majority reduced. Good result for the Lib Dems. Merton Park Residents held their three seats, as usual.
Newham – Labour Mayor & Council Hold
Mayoral Election (first preferences): Rokhsana Fiaz (Lab) 73%; Rahima Khan (Con) 12%; Gareth Evans (Lib Dem) 9%; Chishala Tiffany Kumalinga (Christian Peoples Alliance) 3%; Daniel Oxley (Democrats & Veteran) 3%. Fiaz elected by passing 50%.
Council Seats: Lab 60 [-].
Labour majority: 60 [-].
A gigantic win for new Mayor Fiaz, who succeeds the long-serving Sir Robin Wales with a first preference winning margin that surpasses even his best of 68% in 2010. All 60 councillors are Labor, as before.
Redbridge – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 51 [+13], Con 12 [-13].
Labour majority: 39 [+26].
A crushing consolidation of Labour control in a borough the only took full command of for the first time four years ago. Lots of boundary changes, a few of them helpful to Labour.
Richmond – LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GAIN
Seats: Lib Dem 39 [+24], Con 11 [-28], Green 4 [+4].
Lib Dem majority: 24.
Always susceptible to big swings, Richmond has not disappointed in 2018. A Tory majority of 22 in 2014 has been obliterated. Great result for the Greens, who get their share of the reward for their successful co-operation arrangement with the Lib Dems.
Southwark – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 49 [+2], Lib Dem 11 [-], Con 0 [-2].
Labour majority: 38 [+5].
There were lots of boundary changes here but the overall story is Labour topping up its strengths, the Lib Dems stubbornly maintaining their position and the Tories completely disappearing.
Sutton – Liberal Democrat Hold
Seats: Lid Dem 33 [-12], Con 18 [+3], Independent 3 [+3].
Lib Dem majority: 11 [-25].
While Lib Dems were ousting Tories in Richmond, Tories had designs on doing the reverse in the Lib Dems’ most resilient London stronghold. They made big inroads, but not big enough. The three Independents were all elected in Beddington North ward where the most prominent of them, ex-Lib Dem Nick Mattey, has been campaigning against an incinerator being installed there.
Tower Hamlets – Labour Mayor Hold & LABOUR COUNCIL GAIN
Mayoral Election (first preferences): John Biggs (Lab) 48%; Rabina Khan (Peoples Alliance of Tower Hamlets) 17%; Ohid Ahmed (Aspire) 14%; Anwara Ali (Con) 8%, Elaine Bagshaw (Lib Dem) 7%; Ciaran Jebb (Green) 4%; Hugo Pieree (TUSC) 1%. Biggs elected with addition of 65% of second preference votes.
Council Seats: Lab 42 [+20], Con 2 [-3], Peoples Alliance of Tower Hamlets 1 [-]
Labour majority: 39.
Biggs would have liked to have won on first preferences alone, but he was never in danger of losing. The massive swing to Labour in seats has taken the council out of No Overall Control and means Labour now has majorities on 21 councils in the capital, equalling its record set in 1971.
Waltham Forest – Labour Hold
Seats: Lab 46 [+2], Con 14 [-2].
Labour majority: 32 [+4].
Yet another borough where Labour has widened its winning margin just a little.
Wandsworth – Conservative Hold
Seats: Con 33 [-8], Lab 26 [+7], Independent 1 [+1].
Conservative majority: 6 [-16].
This was never going to be an easy gain for Labour and they have just fallen short. The win for Independent Malcolm Grimston is exceptional.
Westminster – Conservative Hold
Seats: Con 41 [-4], Lab 19 [+4].
Conservative majority: 22 [-8],
Labour locally were always realistic about the huge mountain to climb here and the swings they secured weren’t enough in most of the marginal wards.