History

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.^[2]

Since its formation, Camden has variously been under Labour control, no overall control and Conservative control. Only Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green councillors have been elected to the council. The council has had an overall Labour majority since the 2010 election, in which Labour won thirty seats, the Liberal Democrats won thirteen, the Conservatives won ten and the Greens won a single seat. The Liberal Democrats lost all but one of their seats in the 2014 election, with Labour gaining ten and the Conservatives gaining two. The Green Party maintained their seat, at this point held by the party's future leader Siân Berry. The most recent election in 2018 saw Labour make further gains to win 43 seats (10 of which Labour and Co-operative) with 47.6% of the overall vote. The Conservatives fell to five seats with 20.5% of the vote, the Liberal Democrats won three with 17.4% of the vote and Berry held her seat for the Green Party with her party winning 12.6% of the vote across the borough. The incumbent leader of the council is the Labour councillor Georgia Gould, who has held that position since 2017.

Council term

In November 2019, a Labour councillor for Haverstock ward, Abi Wood, resigned as a councillor.^[3] The by-election to replace her was held on 12 December 2019, the same date as the 2019 general election. The Labour candidate, Gail McAnena-Wood, won.^[4] The leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, Luisa Porritt, stood as her party's candidate in the 2021 London mayoral election, coming fourth with 4.4% of the vote.^[5]

In June 2021, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Fortune Green ward, Flick Rea, resigned. A by-election to replace her was held on 22 July 2021, which was won by the Liberal Democrat candidate and former councillor for the ward Nancy Jirira.^[6] A Labour and Co-operative councillor for Fortune Green, Lorna Russell, defected to the Green Party in November 2021, saying that her previous party had "changed a lot".^[7] In the same month, the Labour councillor Lazzaro Pietragnoli resigned first as the Labour group whip and then as a councillor after he admitted he had run an anonymous Twitter account that he used to promote himself and attack his colleagues.^[8] In December 2021, the Conservative group leader Oliver Cooper said he would change wards to the Belsize, which was marginal between his party and the Liberal Democrats.^[9] In February 2022, Porritt announced she would stand down as a councillor at the 2022 election, citing work commitments.^[10] In March 2022, Ali Hassan Ali, a Conservative candidate in West Hampstead, stood down as a candidate and defected to the Labour Party, describing the local Conservative Party as "toxic". Party organisers claimed that he had been abusive, which Ali denied.^[11]

Along with most other London boroughs, Camden was subject to a boundary review ahead of the 2022 election. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England concluded that the council should have 55 seats, an increase of one, and produced new election boundaries following a period of consultation.^[12]

Belsize

Bloomsbury

Camden Square

Camden Town

Fortune Green

Frognal

Gospel Oak

Hampstead Town

Haverstock

Highgate

Holborn and Covent Garden

Kentish Town North

Kentish Town South

Kilburn

King's Cross

Primrose Hill

Regent's Park

South Hampstead

St Pancras and Somers Town

West Hampstead

Hampstead Town

More information Party, Candidate ...

Hampstead Town by-election, 7 July 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Chung	919	40.9	17.3
	Conservative	Alex Andrews	620	27.6	6.8
	Labour Co-op	Alex Sufit	559	24.9	15.0
	Green	Peter McGinty	104	4.6	N/A
	Independent	Jonathan Livingstone	44	2.0	N/A
	National Housing Party No More Refugees	Patrick McGinnis	1	0.04	N/A
Majority			299	13.3
Turnout			2,247	37.6	5.7
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Co-op		Swing	16.2

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South Hampstead

More information Party, Candidate ...

South Hampstead by-election, 1 June 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tommy Gale	882	35.7	14.3
	Conservative	Don Williams	766	31.0	0.4
	Liberal Democrats	Patrick Stillman	531	21.5	7.5
	Green	Lorna Russell	295	11.9	N/A
Majority			116	4.7
Turnout			2,474	30.2	6.5
	Labour hold		Swing	7.4

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Highgate

More information Party, Candidate ...

Highgate by-election, 30 November 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Lorna Russell	1,513	58.7	15.0
	Labour	Tricia Leman	740	28.7	13.5
	Conservative	Wakjira Feyesa	240	9.3	0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Farrell Monk	84	3.3	1.3
Majority			773	30.0
Turnout			2,577	33.2
	Green hold		Swing	14.3

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The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr Siân Berry.^[40]