2026 London local elections

2026 London local elections

←  2022 7 May 2026 2030 →
All 1,817 councillors in all 32 London boroughs, and 5 directly-elected mayors
First party Second party Third party   Leader Keir Starmer Kemi Badenoch Ed Davey Party Labour Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 1,156 seats, 40.3% 404 seats, 24.8% 180 seats, 13.8% Seats before 1,045 [1] 386 181   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Zack Polanski Nigel Farage Party Green Reform UK Last election 18 seats, 11.4% 0 seats, 0.16% Seats before 47 13

The 2026 London local elections will take place on 7 May 2026, as part of the 2026 United Kingdom local elections. ^[2] All London borough councillor seats will be up for election. ^[3]

Background

In the 2022 London local elections, Labour gained Westminster, Wandsworth and Barnet councils. ^[4] In the 2024 United Kingdom general election, most of the constituencies in London elected Labour MPs.

In January 2026, BBC News, reported that the Green Party of England and Wales and Reform UK are seeking to make gains in the capital. ^[5] The elections are expected to be tough for Labour who control most of the councils in London. ^{[6] [7]} Pollsters have suggested that Labour will be fighting on five fronts against the Conservatives, Reform UK, Liberal Democrats, Greens and pro-Gaza independents. ^[8]

In March 2026, LSE Professor of Local Government Tony Travers said Labour could face a "political earthquake" in the upcoming London local elections worse than their loss in the Gorton and Denton by-election. He said Labour, which has plummeted in the polls, risks losing over 600 seats (more than half of their current 1,150) and the Conservatives, who won more than 400 seats in 2022, could fall to a new historic low, with the Greens and Reform being the main beneficiaries. ^[9]

Councils

Council	Seats	Party control			Details
		Previous		New
Barking and Dagenham	51		Labour		Details
Barnet	63		Labour		Details
Bexley	45		Conservative		Details
Brent	57		Labour		Details
Bromley	58		Conservative		Details
Camden	55		Labour		Details
Croydon	70		No overall control (Conservative minority)		Details
Ealing	70		Labour		Details
Enfield	63		Labour		Details
Greenwich	55		Labour		Details
Hackney	57		Labour		Details
Hammersmith and Fulham	50		Labour		Details
Haringey	57		Labour		Details
Harrow	55		Conservative		Details
Havering	55		No overall control (HRA/Labour coalition)		Details
Hillingdon	53		Conservative		Details
Hounslow	62		Labour		Details
Islington	51		Labour		Details
Kensington and Chelsea	50		Conservative		Details
Kingston upon Thames	48		Liberal Democrats		Details
Lambeth	63		Labour		Details
Lewisham	54		Labour		Details
Merton	57		Labour		Details
Newham	66		Labour		Details
Redbridge	63		Labour		Details
Richmond upon Thames	54		Liberal Democrats		Details
Southwark	63		Labour		Details
Sutton	55		Liberal Democrats		Details
Tower Hamlets	45		Aspire		Details
Waltham Forest	60		Labour		Details
Wandsworth	58		Labour		Details
Westminster	54		Labour		Details
All 32 councils	1,817

Councillor comparison with 2022

The table below shows the number of councillors by party for each council in London. The shaded cells show the party or parties in each council's governing administration.

Council	2022 election						Current								2026 election
	Lab	Con	Lib Dem	Green	Others		Lab	Con	Lib Dem	Green	Reform	Ind	Others		Lab	Con	Lib Dem	Green	Reform	Others
Barking and Dagenham	51	0	0	0	0		47	1	0	3	0	1	0
Barnet	41	22	0	0	0		40	19	0	1	1	1	0
Bexley	12	33	0	0	0		12	30	0	0	0	3	0
Brent	49	5	3	0	0		42	6	3	5	0	1	0
Bromley	12	36	5	0	5 Chislehurst Matters: 3 Independent: 2		11	33	5	0	3	2	3 Chislehurst Matters: 3
Camden	47	3	4	1	0		45	3	6	1	0	0	0
Croydon	34	33 [a]	1	2	0		34	33 [a]	1	2	0	0	0
Ealing	58	5	6	0	0		59	4	7	0	0	1	0
Enfield	38	25	0	0	0		35	25	0	0	0	3	0
Greenwich	52	3	0	0	0		47	4	0	2	0	2	0
Hackney	50	5	0	2	0		42	6	0	4	0	5	0
Hammersmith and Fulham	40	10	0	0	0		36	10	0	2	0	1	0
Haringey	50	0	7	0	0		43	0	7	2	0	5	0
Harrow	24	31	0	0	0		23	31	0	0	0	1	0
Havering	9	23	0	0	23 Havering Residents Association: 20 [b] Harold Hill Independent: 3		8	16	0	0	1	2	28 Havering Residents Association: 25 [c] Harold Wood Hill Park Residents Association: 3
Hillingdon	23	30	0	0	0		16	30	0	1	0	5	0
Hounslow	52	10	0	0	0		43	10	0	1	0	6	0
Islington	48	0	0	3	0		44	0	0	3	0	4	0
Kensington and Chelsea	13	35	2	1	0		7	36	2	1	0	4	0
Kingston upon Thames	0	3	44	0	1 Kingston Independent Residents Group: 1		0	2	42	0	0	0	4 Kingston Independent Residents Group: 4
Lambeth	58	0	3	2	0		55	0	4	4	0	1	0
Lewisham	54	0	0	0	0		52	0	0	2	0	0	0
Merton	31	7	17	0	2 Merton Park Ward Independent Residents: 2		30	7	16	0	0	1	2 Merton Park Ward Independent Residents: 2
Newham	64	0	0	2	0		56	0	0	3	0	3	4 Newham Independents: 4
Redbridge	58	5	0	0	0		54	5	0	0	0	4	0
Richmond upon Thames	0	1	48	5	0		0	0	49	5	0	0	0
Southwark	52	0	11	0	0		45	0	11	4	0	3	0
Sutton	3	20	29	0	3 Independent: 3		2	21	29	0	0	0	3 Sutton Independent Residents Group: 3
Tower Hamlets	19	1	0	1	24 Aspire: 24		16	1	0	1	0	5	22 Aspire: 22
Waltham Forest	47	13	0	0	0		45	12	0	0	1	2	0
Wandsworth	35	22	0	0	1 Independent: 1		34	21	0	0	1	2	0
Westminster	31	23	0	0	0		28	24	0	0	2	0	0
Total	1,156	404	180	18	59		1,046	386	181	47	13	70	66

Opinion polls

Seat projections

Date(s) conducted	Pollster	Client	Sample size	Area	Lab	Con	LD	Grn	Ref	Others
March 2026	Bombe [10]	n/a	TBD	GB	304	363	253	577	145	75
5 May 2022	2022 local elections				1,156	404	180	18	0	59

Notes

1. Led by a Conservative Mayor
2. Led by a Havering Residents Association and Labour coalition
3. Havering Residents Association minority administration

References

1. https://opencouncildata.co.uk/councils.php?model=L&y=0
2. Coughlan, Joe (30 April 2025). "London local elections, why they aren't in 2025 and when the next ones will be". My London. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
3. "Local authority, combined authority, and county combined authority election cycles in England". GOV.UK. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
4. "London election results 2022: Labour wins Westminster, Wandsworth and Barnet". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
5. Grew, Tony (1 January 2026). "Local elections in London will test support for Reform UK and Greens". BBC News . Retrieved 19 January 2026.
6. "'We've Got A Tough Fight': Labour Braces For Council Losses In London Heartlands". Politics Home. 18 December 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
7. Calkin, Sarah; Weakley, Kirsty (2 October 2025). "2026 local elections will be 'treated like midterms' for Labour". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 19 January 2026.
8. Cecil, Nicholas (19 January 2026). "Labour facing 'fierce battles' to hold onto 12 London councils in May elections". The Standard. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
9. "Labour 'risks losing 600 seats' in London local elections in worse nightmare than Gorton disaster". The Standard.
10. "Senior Labour figures warn government amid fears of 'political earthquake' in London".