the big changes Hackney: was Lab 52 Con 5, now Grn 42 Lab 9 (Labour since 2002) Havering: was Con 23 Ind 20, now Ref 39 Ind 14 (Reform's first London council) Lewisham: was Lab 54 (clean sweep), now Grn 40, Lab 14 (Labour since 2010) Waltham Forest: was Lab 47 Con 13, now Grn 31, Lab 15 Con 14 (Labour since 2010) Westminster: was Lab 31 Con 23, now Con 32 Lab 22 (also Conservative 1964-2022)
Three of the gains are by the Greens, one by the Conservatives and one by Reform.
Six different parties are in control across London.
The only 'clean sweep' council is Richmond which is 100% Lib Dem.
Havering is the only borough where the number of Reform councillors reached double figures. Four years ago Labour won 21 councils outright, this year only nine.
slipping into No Overall Control Barnet: Con 31, Lab 31, Grn 1 (Green councillor holds balance of power) Brent: Lab 26, Lib 11, Con 11, Grn 9 (Labour three short) Croydon: Lab 30, Con 28, Grn 8, Lib 2, Ref 2 (Conservative Mayor in charge) Enfield: Con 31, Lab 27, Grn 5 (Conservatives 1 short) Haringey: Grn 28, Lab 20, Lib 8, Ind 1 (Greens 1 short) Lambeth: Grn 29, Lab 26, Lib 8 (Greens 3 short) Newham: Lab 26, Ind 24, Grn 16 (Labour Mayor in charge) Southwark: Lab 29, Grn 22, Lib 12 (Labour since 2010) Wandsworth: Con 29, Lab 28, Ind 1 (former Conservative councillor holds balance of power)
Four years ago only Croydon was No Overall Control. This year there are nine NOC boroughs.
Croydon was very close: Con 31%, Lab 30%, Grn 17%, Ref 13% Hackney's gone very Green: Grn 47%, Lab 35% Lewisham went Green too: Grn 40%, Lab 35% Newham stayed red: Lab 30%, Ind 24%, Grn 23% Tower Hamlets re-elected Lutfur: Asp 39%, Lab 21.1%, Grn 20.9%
In Tower Hamlets it would have taken the combined vote of Labour and the Greens to oust Lutfur Rahman, so he's safely back for his fourth term.
The last government ended Supplementary Votes in Mayoral elections.
This year it's First Past The Post, so you get what you get. (but it'll be Supplementary Vote again next time because the law changed last week)
The Conservatives won the Croydon Mayoralty by just 1100 votes.
In 2022 second preferences narrowed the Con/Lab gap in Croydon by 1600 votes.
So it's entirely possible that Labour would have won this year under the old system.
Meanwhile near London
Lib: West Surrey, East Surrey, Watford
Ref: Thurrock
Con: Broxbourne, Harlow
Meanwhile in Birmingham
Ref 22, Grn 19, Lab 17, Con 16, Ind 13, Lib 12, tbc 2
which is an uncoalitionable six-way mess
8pm update
Tower Hamlets council seats have finally been counted.
Lutfur's party Aspire has taken the lion's share of seats, 33 out of 45.
Labour and the Greens each took 5 seats on a near-identical share of the vote.
All the Green seats are in Bow, indeed all Bow's councillors are Green.
The Stratford & Bow constituency spans two boroughs.
It currently has a Labour MP.
However as of today it only has one Labour councillor.
16 of the constituency's 22 councillors are Green.
So I guess that makes us a top Green target in 2029!
