What is going to happen in the record nine councils in London where no party won a majority of councillors? At this stage, few of the players themselves will know the outcome. But here are the tasks facing those No Overall Control authorities.
Barnet: Labour and the Conservatives ended up with 31 seats each. There is one Green councillor, Charli Thompson, who holds the balance of power. Judging by coverage of her in Jewish News, she may not be looked on favourably by either of the two competing groups as someone to form an alliance with. And what will she herself decide to do? The situation is due to be addressed on 19 May at the first meeting of the newly-elected council membership. On London‘s explainer is here.
Brent: Labour finished on 26. The Tories and Liberal Democrats each have 11. There are nine Greens. Whether either or even both the Greens and Lib Dems are prepared to do business with Labour is an interesting question. None are likely to get into bed with the Tories. Many locally may remember how fractious things got between the Tories and Lib Dems in 2006, the last time they co-habited in the borough.
Croydon: The mayoralty stayed with the Tories’s Jason Perry. The council line-up is more complicated now – Labour 30, Conservatives 28, Greens eight. Lib Dems and Reform two each – but remains without a majority, with Labour and the Conservatives the most numerous, as before. The executive powers enjoyed by the Mayor, and the need for a two-thirds majority of councillors to block or amend his budget mean he will the senior figure.
Enfield: This contest ended with the Conservatives on 31, Labour on 27 and the Greens on five. The Conservatives were just one short of a majority. The Green have already said they will discuss with the Tories working together on opposing plans for housing development on Green Belt land, which now take the form of a Labour government backed New Town. But might they also collaborate with Labour on other policies? It seems likely that the Tories will attempt to run a minority administration, progressing issue by issue.
Haringey: As predicted by some clever MRP polling but still with the capacity to surprise, Labour lost its hold on this borough, shedding 30 councillors and finishing on 21. They were eclipsed by the Greens on 28. There are eight Liberal Democrats. You would assume that the Greens will seek to partner with the Lib Dems, but it’s early days. It’s not clear how prepared the Greens will have been for such a result.
Lambeth: This was one of the last counts to wrap up and the result was on a knife edge. The Greens finished as the largest party on 28, ahead of Labour on 25 and the Liberal Democrats on seven, plus one Independent (a former Green suspended days before polling over sharing controversial social media posts). It is assumed that the Greens and Lib Dems – united by a loathing of Labour which has run the borough for two decades – will talk. Indeed there have been informal discussions already. No-one has made any demands yet over cabinet positions or committee roles or projects they insist on being supported. It is too early to say whether they might enter a formal coalition or agree the next budget and then deal with issues on an ad hoc basis.
Newham: Labour’s Forhad Hussain won the mayoralty, but the council fragmented: Labour on 26, the Newham Independents Party on 24 and the Greens on 16. These are good platforms from which the two junior parties can launch their next mayoral campaigns in 2030. As for the immediate practical effects, as in Croydon it requires a two-thirds majority to block a directly elected Mayor’s budget and the numbers aren’t quite there. The parties could, however, have an impact with their presence on committees such as planning.
Southwark: Labour came out of this one the largest party on 29 seats with the Greens second on 22 and the Lib Dems – who have previous experience of running the borough – on 12. The likeliest outcome is that Labour and the Lib Dems will make a deal. Informal chats with that in mind are underway.
Wandsworth: The Conservatives were ahead by a whisker. Their 29 plays 28 for Labour. This one should be the easiest to predict. Holding the balance of power is Independent councillor and energy specialist Malcolm Grimston. A former senior Tory councillor, he split from the party in October 2014 in protest at plans to close a library and never came back. Discussions with his old party are likely to be constructive. One source said there had been dialogue which was genuine, warm and non-mercenary.
There are small margins involved in many of these councils and a few defections here or there could have a significant impact, as could changes of heart or unexpected successes. A senior Green Party figure told me to anticipate a few by-elections across the capital involving “paper candidates”, who stood to make up the numbers and ended up winning.
Tim Donovan is the former political editor of BBC London and now a trustee of Centre for London. Follow him at LinkedIn. Colour coded map from BBC. This piece was last updated on 13 May 2026.
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Wandsworth is a real disappointment. I really wanted to vote green but voted Labour because I didn’t want to see the Tories get back in. Then I looked at the overall vote tally and saw that my fellow green supporters weren’t so strategic. Although, even with the swing to the greens, Labour still got more votes than the Tories but first past the post and uneven spread of the vote let them sneak back in.