On 7 May, voters will elect 5,066 councillors to seats across the UK – including all 32 of London’s boroughs.
Of the more than 6 million eligible voters in London, around 250,000 live in Lambeth, where the voters who have only elected a party other than Labour to majority twice in the 16 council elections since 1964.
The question then – will Labour hold again? Here is our guide to everything you need to know about this year’s election in Lambeth…
Where is Lambeth?
Running from the MI6 building in Vauxhall through Brixton to Gypsy Hill, Lambeth is one of the youngest and most ethnically diverse boroughs in London.
Over 41% of the bourough’s population aere aged 20-29 and 37% describe themselves as White British.
What happened in the last election?
In 2022 Labour won 58 of 63 seats on 54.1% of the vote, compared to the Greens’ two seats with 22.2% of the vote.
Labour: 58 (+1)
Liberal Democrats: 3 (+3)
Green: 2 (-3)
Since then Labour has lost four seats and had its share of drama.
One councillor was suspended in July 2025 after accusations of sexual assault, another councillor defected to the Green Party in August after claims of bullying, and Lambeth Labour suspended candidate selection after a rejected applicant brought the party to High Court.
That said, in five by-elections in Lambeth since 2022, Labour successfully defended four.
Likewise, the Green Party has not been free from scandal.
On 18 April, Lambeth Labour stated five Green candidates should be removed for racist and antisemitic comments in a press release to the Brixton Buzz.
Predictions
Polling is sparse for local elections. However, as reported by The Guardian, polls privately shared among senior members of Labour show them losing control of the borough to the Greens.
Politico have also stated that the Greens are set to surge in Lambeth based on polling shared to them by YouGov.
Pollcheck predicts that Lambeth will end up with no outright control, with Labour holding onto 29 seats, Green rising to 28, and the Lib Dems to six.
What are the local issues?
Housing in Lambeth is a pressing issue as the borough has the largest waiting list for housing of any local authority in London at over 35,000 people.
Lambeth Labour set a target of building a minimum of 600 new affordable homes on council-owned land by 2030, though government data shows only 68 have been built since 2022.
Interesting facts
According to the 2024 census, the population of Lambeth was 316,920.
The borough is home to Brixton, birthplace of David Bowie and where many of Britain’s Windrush Generation settled.
The first 492 immigrants aboard the HMT Empire Windrush who settled in London in 1948 from Jamaica were temporarily placed in a bomb shelter still visible in Clapham South – with the nearest labour exchange being on Coldharbour Lane, Brixton.
Lambeth has become one of the most diverse places in London and not just ethnically.
It has the highest relative LGBTQ+ population in the UK, with some estimates as high as 10% of the total population.
This diversity reflects that a great deal of people move in and out of Lambeth, comers and go-ers making up to 16% of its population year by year.
Featured Image: Electric Avenue by N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0
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