The local elections in London will be held on Thursday 5 May 2022. In this election, 58 councillors will be elected to represent the 22 wards across the borough.
Groups who can vote in this election are:
- British Citizens living in the United Kingdom
- Other nationals with the right to vote
- Citizens of the Republic of Ireland
- Citizens of the European Union
British citizens who are not members of the Armed Forces, Crown Servants, British Council employees or their spouse or civil partner are not entitled to vote in this election.
As in previous years there will be no need for the voters to provide ID cards.
On Thursday 5 May, local government and mayoral elections will take place in London as part of the local elections across the UK.
The election notice is scheduled to be published on 25 March 2022, which is the start of the formal election timetable. This details all the proceedings and statutory deadlines until polling day, which is scheduled for Thursday 5 May 2022.
All those with the right to vote can take part in these elections except British citizens living overseas. You can register as soon as possible if you haven’t registered yet.
A list of candidates’ names and more information is available.
Wards and Councillors
The table below lists all 19 Lewisham wards. The number of councillors to be elected is proportionate to the number of voters in each ward.
Ward | Councillors |
Bellingham | 2 |
Black heath | 3 |
Brockley | 3 |
Catford South | 3 |
Deptford | 3 |
Downham | 3 |
Evelyn | 3 |
Forest Hill | 3 |
Grove Park | 3 |
Hither Green | 3 |
Ladywell | 3 |
Lee Green | 3 |
Lewisham Central | 2 |
New Cross Gate | 2 |
Perry Vale | 3 |
Rushey Green | 3 |
Sydenham | 3 |
Telegraph Hill | 3 |
The last day to register to vote in this election is at midnight on 14 April 2022, and the last date to submit a postal vote application is 5 pm on 19 April 2022. The last date to submit a proxy vote application is 5 pm on 26 April 2022.
The Mayoral candidates must fill in a notebook and submit their complete information. Many rules apply to candidates and voters, including the wearing of masks at the polls.
Poll gives Labour a 27-Point Lead Over Tories ahead of May Elections
According to a new poll on Wednesday, the Labour Party has earned a 50 per cent lead over the Conservative Party in London.
In fact, the polls show that the Labour Party has a lead of 50%, more than twice that of the Conservatives with 23%. The Liberal Democrats are on 12 % and Greens on 9%.
Dr Patrick Diamond, Director of QMUL’s Mile End Institute, said: “Our new research shows that Labour is set to perform significantly better than the Conservatives in the forthcoming London borough elections.
“Support for the Conservatives across the city has fallen sharply since the local elections in 2018. However, Labour’s vote doesn’t look set to advance beyond its success that year, when it performed particularly strongly.”
This gap is noticeable as compared with the statistics of 2018, when the last borough elections were fought.
The difference is explained by the backing for the Tories going down from 29 % to 23 %, with the Labour almost unchanged from 51% four years ago and the Lib-Dems from 11%.
Many Londoners may also vote tactically for the Labour Party and its popularity against the Conservative Party shows that it has a good chance of winning.
Professor of Politics at the Queen Mary University of London, Philip Cowley, said: “If repeated on polling day, these figures would see Labour make advances in both inner and outer London.
Widespread changes to ward boundaries make it difficult to make precise predictions, but this level of Labour support at least indicates that the Conservative-held boroughs of Barnet and Wandsworth may well be vulnerable, even if Westminster and Hillingdon may remain slightly out of reach for Labour.”
He added: “This would not quite be Labour’s best performance in London ever, still falling short of the 53% achieved in 1971, but it should see them make gains.
Any gains will not be massive, however- not least because Labour did well in London the last time these councils were contested in 2018, in what was then the best result since 1971, and it, therefore, has relatively limited scope to make further advances.”
He also stressed that while Labour did well in 2018, it underperformed the level of support shown in polls then.
The last pre-election survey of QMUL in 2018 had Labour on 51% and in the event, it polled 44$, “so similar caution will be needed this time,” he added.
Labour Party Leads over the Conservatives on 50%
A Labour Party lead over the Conservatives shows that it has more strength and can dominate the capital at the borough elections on 5 May.
Statistically, this is the second time that the Labour Party leads over the Conservative Party in the local elections.
Paddy Hennessy, a senior adviser at LCA and formerly director of communications for Sadiq Khan, said that the conservative vote in both the 2018 borough elections and last year’s race for London mayor proved to be “more resilient than pre-election polls had indicated.”
“Furthermore, Labour strategies may ignore London, where the party’s success has been priced-in, in favour of seeking a narrative of winning back areas of the ‘red wall’ in the Midlands and the North,” Hennessey added.
With this high lead for the Labour Party this year, it is obvious that the party is more powerful and can dominate more regions compared with the Conservative Party. The cost of living has been soaring in London, becoming the most important obsession for Londoners. A bad situation following Brexit and the Pandemic has only been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.