The Liberal Democrats completed their trio of South West London holds by securing Kingston in the local council elections.
The party won 44 of 48 seats up for grabs – failing to gain only two seats from the Conservative Party and two from the Kingston Independent Residents Group.
Andreas Kirsch, Leader of Kingston Council since 2021, said: “We are really happy. It’s a brilliant result for the Lib Dems.
“I’m really grateful for the work from our candidates and our volunteers, and I’m really grateful that our residents trusted us with their votes.”
Kirsch explained that the Lib Dem led council has gained a positive reputation by putting on events celebrating Kingston’s history and bringing residents joy, such as a celebration last year of the first King of England, Athelstan, which saw over 100,000 residents and visitors attending.
A today-elected Liberal Democrat councillor, 25 year old Robert Sadler, shared his appreciation for the rest of the party candidates and councillors in Kingston.
He said: “The Kingston Lib Dems are genuinely such a nice group of people. It was my first time standing and they were all so supportive.”
However, the Lib Dems did not obtain every seat as seen earlier in the day in Richmond. Coombe Hill Ward was kept by the Conservative Party – a result which was expected.
Zain Ausaf Abbas, who was the Lib Dem candidate for the ward said: “Coombe Hill was always going to be a difficult one, it’s only every really been Conservative so we knew it’d be an uphill battle.
“Rowena [Bass] is a great candidate though – during the campaign, we heard residents name drop her frequently. She’s been doing it a long time and her voters have returned to her many times now, so she must be doing a good job.”
Archie Coyne, 20, stood in St Mark’s and Seething Wells Ward for the Green Party.
While they did not win, it was the best result for the party in the borough, with each Green candidate winning over 1,000 votes.
Coyne said: “We’ve done really really well. It would’ve been incredible if we managed to secure some seats, but we’re on such a strong footing to continue through to the next election cycles.”
Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, was present at the count cheering on the candidates of his home-council and supporting his wife, Emily Davey, who kept her position in Norbiton Ward.
The Liberal Democrats have held their three historic South West London boroughs of Richmond, Kingston and Sutton – however were unable to win Merton despite attempts, which fell to Labour earlier today.
You can check out all of South West Londoner’s local elections coverage here.
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