London Liberal Democrats

London Liberal Democrats
Leader in the London Assembly	Hina Bokhari
Preceded by	Progressive Party (1888–1926) Liberal Party (1926–1988)
Headquarters	8–10 Great George Street, London, SW1 [1]
Youth wing	London Young Liberals
Ideology	Liberalism Social liberalism [2] Classical liberalism [3] [4] Pro-Europeanism [5] [6]
Political position	Centre [7] [8] to centre-left [3] [9] [10]
National affiliation	Liberal Democrats
Colours	Orange [11]
London House of Commons seats	6 / 75
London Assembly	2 / 25
Councillors [12]	182 / 1,817
Council control in London	3 / 32
Website
londonlibdems.org.uk/
Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections

The London Liberal Democrats are the regional party of the Liberal Democrats that operates in Greater London. The organisation is a part of the English Liberal Democrats.

Mayoral candidates

In 2008, Brian Paddick became the first openly LGBT candidate to run for a mainstream political party for the role of Mayor of London. ^[13]

Election	Candidate	Results
2000	Susan Kramer	N Not Elected
2004	Simon Hughes	N Not Elected
2008	Brian Paddick	N Not Elected
2012	Brian Paddick	N Not Elected
2016	Caroline Pidgeon	N Not Elected
2021	Luisa Porritt	N Not Elected
2024	Rob Blackie	N Not Elected

Current representatives

Members of Parliament

Since the 2024 United Kingdom general election in London:

• Ed Davey (Kingston and Surbiton)
• Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington)
• Paul Kohler (Wimbledon)
• Sarah Olney (Richmond Park)
• Luke Taylor (Sutton and Cheam)
• Munira Wilson (Twickenham)

London Assembly members

• Hina Bokhari (London Wide List)
• Gareth Roberts (South West)

Councillors

Main article: 2022 London local elections

Council	Councillors [14]	Leaders
Barking and Dagenham	0 / 51
Barnet	0 / 63
Bexley	0 / 63
Brent	3 / 57	Paul Lorber
Bromley	5 / 58	Julie Ireland
Camden	4 / 55	Tom Simon
Croydon	1 / 70
Ealing	6 / 70	Gary Malcolm
Enfield	0 / 63
Greenwich	0 / 55
Hackney	0 / 57
Hammersmith and Fulham	0 / 50
Haringey	7 / 57	Luke Cawley-Harrison
Harrow	0 / 55
Havering	0 / 55
Hillingdon	0 / 53
Hounslow	0 / 62
Islington	0 / 51
Kensington and Chelsea	2 / 50	Linda Wade
Kingston upon Thames	42 / 48	Andreas Kirsch
Lambeth	4 / 63	Donna Harris
Lewisham	0 / 54
Merton	17 / 57	Anthony Fairclough
Newham	0 / 66
Redbridge	0 / 61
Richmond upon Thames	49 / 54	Gareth Roberts
Southwark	11 / 63	Victor Chamberlain
Sutton	29 / 55	Ruth Dombey
Tower Hamlets	0 / 45
Waltham Forest	0 / 60
Wandsworth	0 / 58
Westminster	0 / 54

Electoral performance

UK general elections

Gold indicates the constituencies won by the London Liberal Democrats at the 2024 general election.

The table below shows the London Liberal Democrats results at UK general elections since the London Government Act 1963 created the administrative area of Greater London in 1965. Results between 1966 and 1979 are for the Liberal Party, while results between 1983 and 1987 are for the SDP–Liberal Alliance. ^{[15] [16] [17]}

Election	Leader	Votes			Seats		Status
		No.	Share	±	No.	±
1966	Jo Grimond	356,925	9.3	3.1	1 / 92		Opposition
1970	Jeremy Thorpe	246,060	6.9	2.4	0 / 92	1	Opposition
Feb-1974		814,239	20.8	13.8	0 / 92		Opposition
Oct-1974		594,699	17.0	3.8	0 / 92		Opposition
1979	David Steel	437,521	11.9	5.1	0 / 92		Opposition
1983	Roy Jenkins and David Steel	853,360	24.7	12.8	2 / 84	2	Opposition
1987	David Owen and David Steel	770,117	21.3	3.4	3 / 84	1	Opposition
1992	Paddy Ashdown	542,733	15.1	6.2	1 / 84	2	Opposition
1997		486,013	14.6	0.5	6 / 74	5	Opposition
2001	Charles Kennedy	482,888	17.5	2.9	6 / 74		Opposition
2005		638,333	21.9	4.4	8 / 74	2	Opposition
2010	Nick Clegg	751,561	22.1	0.2	7 / 73	1	Cons–LD
2015		272,544	7.7	14.4	1 / 73	6	Opposition
2017	Tim Farron	336,725	8.8	1.1	3 / 73	2	Opposition
2019	Jo Swinson	562,564	14.9	6.1	3 / 73		Opposition
2024	Ed Davey	367,424	11.0	3.9	6 / 75	3	Opposition

European Parliament elections

Gold indicates the boroughs won by the London Liberal Democrats at the 2019 European Parliament election.

During the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union (1973–2020), Greater London participated in European Parliament elections, held every five years from 1979 until 2019. ^[18] The table below shows London Liberal Democrat results in elections to the European Parliament. Results in 1979 are for the Liberal Party, while results in 1984 are for the SDP–Liberal Alliance. From 1979 to 1994, London members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected from ten individual constituencies by first-past-the-post voting; from 1999 to 2019, MEPs were elected from a London-wide regional list by proportional representation.

Election	Leader	Votes			Seats		Pos.
		No.	%	±	No.	±
1979	David Steel	175,945	11.4	N/A	0 / 10	N/A	3rd
1984	David Owen and David Steel	302,427	18.1	6.7	0 / 10		3rd
1989	Paddy Ashdown	98,255	5.3	12.9	0 / 10		4th
1994		199,017	12.1	6.9	0 / 10		3rd
1999		133,058	11.7	0.5	1 / 10	1	3rd
2004	Charles Kennedy	288,790	15.3	3.6	1 / 9		3rd
2009	Nick Clegg	240,156	13.7	1.6	1 / 8		3rd
2014		148,013	6.7	7.0	0 / 8	1	5th
2019	Vince Cable	608,725	27.2	20.5	3 / 8	3	1st

Regional elections

Greater London Council elections

The table below shows the results obtained by the London Liberal Party in elections to the Greater London Council (GLC). The GLC was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985 and its powers were devolved to the London boroughs and other entities. All GLC elections were conducted under the first-past-the-post voting system.

Election	Leader	Votes			Seats		Status
		No.	Share	±	No.	±
1964		238,967	10.0	N/A	0 / 100	N/A	No seats
1967		189,868	8.8	1.2	0 / 100		No seats
1970		103,838	5.4	3.4	0 / 100		No seats
1973	Stanley Rundle	244,703	12.5	7.1	2 / 92	2	Opposition
1977		174,405	7.8	4.7	0 / 92	2	No seats
1981	Adrian Slade	323,856	14.4	6.6	1 / 92	1	Opposition

London Assembly elections

The table below shows the London Liberal Democrats results at London Assembly elections since the Greater London Authority was established in 2000. Assembly elections use the additional member system, a form of mixed member proportional representation, with 14 directly elected constituencies and 11 London-wide top-up seats.

Election	Leader	Constituency			Party			Total Seats	+/–
		#	%	Seats	#	%	Seats
2000	Graham Tope	299,998	18.9	0 / 14	245,555	14.8	4 / 11	4 / 25	N/A
2004		332,237	18.4	0 / 14	316,218	16.9	5 / 11	5 / 25	1
2008	Mike Tuffrey	330,018	13.7	0 / 14	252,556	11.2	3 / 11	3 / 25	2
2012	Caroline Pidgeon	193,842	8.8	0 / 14	150,447	6.8	2 / 11	2 / 25	1
2016		195,820	7.5	0 / 14	165,580	6.3	1 / 11	1 / 25	1
2021		266,595	10.3	0 / 14	189,522	7.3	2 / 11	2 / 25	1
2024	Hina Bokhari	271,049	11.0	1 / 14	215,682	8.7	1 / 11	2 / 25

London Mayoral elections

The table below shows the London Liberal Democrats results in London Mayoral elections since the Greater London Authority was established in 2000. Elections between 2000 and 2021 were conducted using the two-round supplementary vote system, while the 2024 election used the single-round first-past-the-post system. The London Liberal Democrats have never won a mayoral election or qualified for the second round of the supplementary vote system.

Election	Candidate	1st Round			2nd Round			Pos.
		No.	%	±	No.	%	±
2000	Susan Kramer	203,452	11.9	N/A	Eliminated			4th
2004	Simon Hughes	284,647	15.3	3.5	Eliminated			3rd
2008	Brian Paddick	235,585	9.8	5.6	Eliminated			3rd
2012		91,774	4.2	5.6	Eliminated			4th
2016	Caroline Pidgeon	120,005	4.6	0.4	Eliminated			4th
2021	Luisa Porritt	111,716	4.4	0.2	Eliminated			4th
2024	Rob Blackie	145,184	5.8	1.4				3rd

Local elections

The table below shows the London Liberal Democrats results at London borough council elections since the London Government Act 1963 created the administrative area of Greater London in 1965. Results between 1964 and 1978 are for the Liberal Party, while results between 1982 and 1986 are for the SDP–Liberal Alliance. ^[19] All borough council elections use the first-past-the-post voting system.

Election	Leader	Votes			Councillors		Councils
		No.	%	±	Seats	±	Majorities	±
1964	Jo Grimond			N/A	16 / 1,859	N/A	0 / 32	N/A
1968	Jeremy Thorpe	387,181	7.3		10 / 1,863	6	0 / 32
1971		253,255	4.2	3.0	9 / 1,863	1	0 / 32
1974		244,725	13.1	8.9	27 / 1,867	18	0 / 32
1978	David Steel	150,298	7.1	6.0	30 / 1,908	3	0 / 32
1982	Collective SDP Leadership and David Steel	530,340	24.6	17.5	124 / 1,914	94	0 / 32
1986	David Owen and David Steel	539,848	24.0	0.6	249 / 1,914	125	3 / 32	3
1990	Paddy Ashdown	344,125	14.2	9.8	229 / 1,914	20	3 / 32
1994		490,259	22.0	7.8	323 / 1,917	94	3 / 32
1998		362,913	20.8	1.2	301 / 1,917	22	2 / 32	1
2002	Charles Kennedy	353,833	20.6	0.2	307 / 1,861	6	3 / 32	1
2006	Menzies Campbell	443,772	20.7	0.1	316 / 1,861	9	3 / 32
2010	Nick Clegg	835,217	22.4	1.7	246 / 1,861	70	2 / 32	1
2014		267,769	10.6	11.8	116 / 1,861	130	1 / 32	1
2018	Vince Cable	323,074	13.0	2.5	152 / 1,861	36	3 / 32	2
2022	Ed Davey	335,415	13.7	0.7	180 / 1,817	28	3 / 32

The table below shows the London Liberal Democrats' best election results for each London borough council, as well as the party's current seat totals. ^[20]

Best historic result by borough

Borough	Election	Best seats	Role in council	Current seats
Barking and Dagenham	1986	5 / 48	Opposition	0 / 51
Barnet	1964	6 / 63	3rd Party	0 / 63
Bexley	1994	14 / 62	3rd Party	0 / 45
Brent	2006	27 / 63	Joint control with Conservatives	3 / 57
Bromley	1998	27 / 60	Joint control with Labour	5 / 58
Camden	2006	20 / 54	Joint control with Conservatives	6 / 55
Croydon	2002	1 / 70	3rd Party	1 / 70
Ealing	2022	6 / 70	Opposition	7 / 70
Enfield	1974	1 / 60	3rd Party	0 / 63
Greenwich	1986	5 / 62	3rd Party	0 / 55
Hackney	1998	17 / 60	3rd Party	0 / 57
Hammersmith and Fulham	1982	2 / 50	3rd Party	0 / 50
Haringey	2006	27 / 57	Opposition	7 / 57
Harrow	1994	29 / 63	Minority	0 / 100
Havering	1990	6 / 63	4th Party	0 / 55
Hillingdon	1986	6 / 63	3rd Party	0 / 53
Hounslow	1994	5 / 60	3rd Party	0 / 62
Islington	2002	38 / 48	Overall control	0 / 51
Kensington and Chelsea	2010	2 / 50	3rd Party	2 / 50
Kingston upon Thames	2022	44 / 48	Overall control	42 / 48
Lambeth	2002	28 / 63	Joint control with Conservatives	4 / 63
Lewisham	2002	17 / 54	Opposition	0 / 54
Merton	2022	17 / 57	Opposition	16 / 57
Newham	1982	6 / 60	Opposition	0 / 66
Redbridge	2006	9 / 62	Opposition	0 / 63
Richmond upon Thames	1986	49 / 52	Overall control	49 / 54
Southwark	2002	30 / 63	Joint control with Conservatives	11 / 63
Sutton	2002	47 / 56	Overall control	29 / 55
Tower Hamlets	1990	30 / 50	Overall control	0 / 45
Waltham Forest	2006	19 / 60	Opposition	0 / 60
Wandsworth	1982	1 / 61	3rd Party	0 / 58
Westminster City	2010	0 / 61	No presence	0 / 54

References

1. "Revealed: The Liberal Democrats' new HQ". Lib Dem Voice. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
2. Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics [2 volumes]: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 343. ISBN   978-0-313-39182-8.
3. Alistair Clark (2012). Political Parties in the UK. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 86–93. ISBN   978-0-230-36868-2.
4. Andrew Heywood (2011). Essentials of UK Politics. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 126–128. ISBN   978-0-230-34619-2.
5. "Brexit". Liberal Democrats. 17 April 2018.
6. Elgot, Jessica (28 May 2017). "Tim Farron: Lib Dems' pro-European strategy will be proved right". The Guardian.
7. Mark Kesselman; Joel Krieger; William A. Joseph (2018). Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas. Cengage Learning. p. 71. ISBN   978-1-337-67124-8.
8. Mance, Henry (13 March 2016). "Lib Dems aim for centrist voters with tax platform" . Financial Times. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
9. Thomas Quinn; Judith Bara; John Bartle (2013). "The UK Coalition Agreement of 2010: Who Won?". In Justin Fisher; Christopher Wlezien (eds.). The UK General Election of 2010: Explaining the Outcome. Routledge. p. 180. ISBN   978-1-317-96554-1.
10. Peter King (2011). The New Politics: Liberal Conservatism Or Same Old Tories?. Policy Press. p. 1. ISBN   978-1-84742-853-0.
11. "Brand". Liberal Democrats.
12. http://opencouncildata.co.uk/councils.php?model=L&y=0
13. Duffy, Nick (26 September 2015). "UKIP picks gay candidate Peter Whittle to run for Mayor of London". PinkNews.
14. http://opencouncildata.co.uk/councils.php?model=L&y=0
15. "Historical Data and Plots". Electoral Calculus. Electoral Calculus Ltd. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
16. "General Election Results of 9 June 1983". UK Parliament. UK Parliament Public Information Office. June 1984. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
17. "General Election Results 11 June 1987". UK Parliament. UK Parliament Public Information Office. 1989. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
18. Cracknell, Richard; Uberoi, Elise; Burton, Matthew (9 August 2023). "UK Election Statistics: 1918–2023, A Long Century of Elections" (PDF). House of Commons Library. pp. 65–67. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
19. "London Elections Reports". London Datastore. London: Greater London Authority. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
20. "London Councils 2025 (Total 33)". Open Council Data. Lawson Data Services Ltd. Retrieved 30 January 2026.

External links

• Official website