2022 Lambeth London Borough Council election

Result of the 2018 borough election

The thirty-two London boroughs were established in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. They are the principal authorities in Greater London and have responsibilities including education, housing, planning, highways, social services, libraries, recreation, waste, environmental health and revenue collection. Some of the powers are shared with the Greater London Authority, which also manages passenger transport, police and fire.[1]

Since its formation, Lambeth has generally been under Labour control apart from one period from 1968 to 1971 of Conservative control and several periods of no overall control. The council was controlled by a Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition from 2002 to 2006, and since 2006 has continuously had a Labour majority. The Green Party won their first seat in the 2006 election, which they lost in the 2010 election. The Green Party regained their seat in the 2014 election, while the Liberal Democrats lost all their representation. In the most recent election in 2018, Labour won 57 seats with 51.7% of the vote across the borough, the Greens won five seats with 19.3% of the vote, and the Conservatives won a single seat with 12.6% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats received 12.3% of the vote but didn't win any seats.[2][3]

A Labour councillor for Coldharbour, Matt Parr, died in July 2018.[4] A by-election to fill his seat was held on 13 September 2018, which was won by the Labour candidate Scarlett O'Hara.[5] A Labour councillor for Thornton, Jane Edbrooke, resigned in early 2019 to take up a politically restricted job.[6] The by-election was won by the Labour candidate Stephen Donnelly while the Liberal Democrats gained vote share to come in a strong second place.[7] Another councillor for Thornton, Lib Peck, resigned shortly after to take up a roll working for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Labour held the resulting by-election in April 2019 with candidate Nanda Manley-Browne, with the Liberal Democrats making further gains, reducing the Labour majority to nineteen votes.[8] Labour councillor for Oval, Philip Normal, resigned in January 2022 after historic racist and sexist tweets were uncovered on his Twitter account.[9] In February 2022, Labour councillor for Clapham Town, Christopher Wellbelove resigned due to his new job as Deputy-Lieutenant for Greater London.[10]

As with most London boroughs, Lambeth will be electing its councillors under new boundaries decided by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, which it produced after a period of consultation. The number of councillors will remain at 63, under new boundaries with thirteen three-councillor wards and twelve two-councillor wards.[11]