2022 Westminster City Council election

The 2022 Westminster City Council election is due to take place on 5 May 2022. All 54 members of Westminster London Borough Council will be elected. The elections will take place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.

2022 Westminster Council election
5 May 2022
All 54 council seats
 
Leader Rachael Robathan Adam Hug
Party Conservative Labour
Last election 41 seats, 42.8% 19 seats, 41.1%
Incumbent council control


Conservative


In the previous election in 2018, the Conservative Party maintained their longstanding control of the council, winning 41 out of the 60 seats with the Labour Party forming the council opposition with the remaining 19 seats. The 2022 election will take place under new election boundaries, which will reduce the number of councillors to 54.

Background

History
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]

Westminster City Council has continuously been under Conservative Party control since its establishment. In the most recent election in 2018, Westminster was considered a key target for Labour in London.[2] The Conservatives won the election, with 41 seats on 42.8% of the vote across the borough while Labour won 19 seats with 41.1% of the vote.[3]

Council term

The Conservative councillor Robert Davis, who represented Lancaster Gate and had served on the council since 1982, resigned after an investigation into his conduct found that he broke the councillors' code of conduct for receiving a large number of gifts and hospitality from property developers.[4] The 22 November 2018 by-election was held for the Conservatives by Margot Bright with the Labour candidate coming in second place.[5] In March 2021, Andrea Mann, a Labour councillor for Churchill ward, resigned for family reasons.[6] The by-election to fill the seat was held on 6 May 2021 alongside the 2021 London mayoral election and London Assembly election. The Labour candidate Liza Begum won, with an increased majority compared to the 2018 election.[7]

Along with most London boroughs, Westminster will be electing councillors under new ward boundaries in 2022. Following local consultation, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England produced new boundaries, reducing the number of councillors from 60 to 54 across eighteen three-councillor wards.[8]

Campaign

The Conservative peer Robert Hayward listed Westminster as one of four Conservative councils in London that his party risked losing control of in the wake of the partygate scandal. The concentration of Labour voters in a small number of wards means that relatively few seats in the borough are marginal.[9] Labour criticised the Conservative council for the Marble Arch Mound's cost, which had led to the resignation of the council's deputy leader Melvyn Caplan.[9][10] Fitzrovia News wrote that the new West End ward would be competitive between Labour and the Conservatives, with Labour having won one of the three seats on previous boundaries.[11]

Electoral process

Westminster, as with all other London borough councils, elects all of its councillors at once every four years, with the previous election having taken place in 2018. The election will take place by multi-member first-past-the-post voting, with each ward being represented by two or three councillors. Electors will have as many votes as there are councillors to be elected in their ward, with the top two or three being elected.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in London aged 18 or over will be entitled to vote in the election. People who live at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, are entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities.[12] Voting in-person at polling stations will take place from 7:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters will be able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.[12]

Previous council composition
  • Councillors after the 2018 election
  • Councillors ahead of the 2022 election
After 2018 election Before 2022 election
Party Seats Party Seats
Conservative 41 Conservative 41
Labour 19 Labour 19

Candidates

Candidates seeking re-election are marked with an asterisk (*). Councillors seeking re-election for a different ward are marked with a cross (†).[13]

Abbey Road
Abbey Road (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Cristian Dinu
Labour James Robert Evans
Liberal Democrats Trish Griffiths
Liberal Democrats Christopher Robert Paul Gunness
Labour Sarah Katharine Hanson
Conservative Amanda Lilian Langford
Conservative Alan Laurence Mendoza
Labour Sheyda Monshizadeh-Azar
Conservative Caroline Emma Sargent
Liberal Democrats Seth Barney Weisz
Turnout

Bayswater
Bayswater (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anna Askew
Conservative Iain James Bott†
Liberal Democrats Scott Andrew Caizley
Labour Maggie Carman*
Conservative Henry Graham Cornelius Shelford
Labour James Tacuma Small-Edwards
Liberal Democrats Jane Caroline Grantham Smithard
Labour Max Sullivan
Liberal Democrats Nathalie Ubilava
Turnout

Church Street
Church Street (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats William Dunbar
Liberal Democrats Rachael Georgina Jagger
Conservative Amarjeet Singh Johal
Conservative Blessings Kaseke
Conservative Jaime Law
Labour Aicha Less*
Labour Matt Noble*
Liberal Democrats Patrick Ryan
Labour Abdul Aziz Toki*
Turnout

Harrow Road
Harrow Road (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Concia Albert
Liberal Democrats Will Baynes
Labour Ruth Bush*
Conservative Tom Haynes
Conservative Helen Hope Lambert
Conservative Sam Parr
Labour Tim Roca*
Liberal Democrats Sharan Tabari
Turnout

Hyde Park
Hyde Park (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Heather Acton*
Liberal Democrats Andrew Donaldson Byrne
Labour Md Shamsed Chowdhury
Conservative Antonia Mary Cox*
Labour Paul Howard Dimoldenberg†
Conservative Zaheed Nizar
Liberal Democrats Sarah Gonzales Ryan
Labour Judith Anne Southern
Liberal Democrats Raked Yaghi
Turnout

Knightsbridge & Belgravia
Knightsbridge & Belgravia (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tony Devenish*
Liberal Democrats Rosamund Durnford-Slater
Conservative Elizabeth Suzanne Hitchcock*
Labour Simon Robert Horbury
Labour Guthrie Kerr McKie†
Liberal Democrats Richard Johnstone Pyatt
Conservative Rachael Robathan*
Labour Andrew David Silverman
Turnout

Lancaster Gate
Lancaster Gate (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Susan Mary Baring
Conservative Margot Joan Bright
Conservative Laila Dupuy
Labour Dario Nelson Goodwin
Green Kathy Hughes
Liberal Democrats Benjamin John Hurdis
Labour Ryan Bernard Jude
Labour Ellie Ormsby
Liberal Democrats Thierry Haim David Serero
Conservative Philip John Stephenson-Oliver
Turnout

Little Venice
Little Venice (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Bahram Alimoradian
Conservative Melvyn Bernard Caplan*
Conservative Lorraine Dean*
Conservative Matthew Charles Green*
Labour Sara Hassan
Liberal Democrats Marianne Magnin
Labour Murad Qureshi
Liberal Democrats Timothy Nigel Stokes
Labour Rosie Wrighting
Turnout

Maida Vale
Maida Vale (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Geoffrey Mark Barraclough*
Labour Nafsika Butler-Thalassis*
Conservative Mohammed Janal
Labour Iman Less
Liberal Democrats James Joshua Nisbet
Conservative Iheoma Oteh
Conservative Jan Prendergast
Liberal Democrats Harriet Elizabeth Sergeant
Liberal Democrats Peter Howard Toeman
Turnout

Marylebone
Marylebone (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Barbara Arzymanow*
Liberal Democrats Alistair Barr
Liberal Democrats Elizabeth Botsford
Labour Jo Broadey
Labour Barbara Johnston
Labour Michael Lord
Liberal Democrats Freddie Poser
Conservative Ian Rowley*
Conservative Karen Scarborough*
Turnout

Pimlico North
Pimlico North (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Tony Coleman
Conservative Jim Glen†
Labour Sir Peter Heap
Labour Paul Derek Heasman
Conservative Ed Pitt Ford
Labour Eric Edward Robinson
Liberal Democrats Sophie Alice Louisa Service
Conservative Jacqui Wilkinson†
Turnout

Pimlico South
Pimlico South (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Vikas Aggarwal
Labour Liza Begum
Conservative Greg Conary
Labour Robert William Eagleton
Conservative Murad Gassanly
Liberal Democrats Omar Hegazi
Liberal Democrats Daniel John Poole
Conservative James Michael Spencer†
Labour Jason Thomas Williams
Turnout

Queen's Park
Queen's Park (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jack Cato Dykstra-McCarthy
Conservative Hannah Rebecca Galley
Conservative Bota Hopkinson
Labour Patricia McAllister*
Conservative Emma Ralph Sargent
Labour Cara Sanquest
Labour Hamza Taouzzale*
Liberal Democrats Helen Toeman
Liberal Democrats Kati Tschawow
Turnout

Regent's Park
Regent's Park (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Md Azizul Haque
Liberal Democrats Kathryn Hertel Kerle
Green Vivien Aviva Lichtenstein
Conservative Ralu Oteh-Osoka
Labour Kian David Richardson
Conservative Robert Charles Rigby*
Liberal Democrats Martin Philip Rowe
Liberal Democrats Julian Mark Sims
Conservative Paul Swaddle*
Labour Connor Whittam
Turnout

St James's
St James's (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Michael Anthony Ahearne
Labour Karina Darbin
Liberal Democrats Paul Diggory
Conservative Louise Hyams*
Labour Nigel Stephen Medforth
Conservative Tim Mitchell*
Conservative Mark Shearer*
Labour Paul Raphael James Spence
Liberal Democrats Alice Anne Wells
Turnout

Vincent Square
Vincent Square (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gillian Sharon Arrindell
Liberal Democrats Francesca Rebecca Gonshaw
Conservative David John Harvey*
Conservative Martin Patrick Hayes
Liberal Democrats Phillip Lindsay Kerle
Labour David Anthony Parton
Labour Ananthi Paskaralingam
Conservative Selina Ann Short*
Liberal Democrats Richard Lindsay Wood
Turnout

West End
West End (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Tim Barnes*
Liberal Democrats George Coelho
Labour Paul Edward Fisher
Labour Patrick Eamon Joseph Lilley
Conservative Eoghain Leo Murphy†
Conservative Julie Ann Redmond
Liberal Democrats Sophie Amanda Taylor
Labour Jessica Jade Toale
Liberal Democrats Jonah Louis Weisz
Turnout

Westbourne
Westbourne (3 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jack Berry
Labour David Boothroyd*
Liberal Democrats Alastair Ritchie Coomes
Conservative Thomas Jasper Gwyndaf Davies
No Description Abby-Jan Mohamed Dharamsey
Labour Adam John Walsworth Hug*
Liberal Democrats Selina St Clair Mills
Conservative Louise Marie Parry
Labour Angela Patricia Piddock
Liberal Democrats Joe Wright
Turnout

References
  1. "The essential guide to London local government | London Councils". www.londoncouncils.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  2. Hill, Dave (27 April 2018). "Westminster 2018: Labour looks for a big swing in Little Venice". OnLondon. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. Gregory, Julia (4 May 2018). "Westminster local election results: Conservatives retain control". MyLondon. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  4. "Westminster councillor Robert Davis resigns over conduct investigation". BBC News. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  5. Baston, Lewis (23 November 2018). "Westminster: Tory by-election hold in Lancaster Gate is more significant than it appears". OnLondon. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  6. "Andrea Mann steps down as councillor for Churchill Ward - Westminster Labour Councillors". Westminster Labour. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  7. Sheppard, Owen (7 May 2021). "Labour wins by-election in Tory stronghold Westminster Council". MyLondon. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  8. "LGBCE | Westminster | LGBCE Site". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  9. Hill, Dave (10 January 2022). "Borough elections 2022: Will London sink Boris Johnson in May?". OnLondon. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  10. "Marble Arch Mound: Deputy leader resigns amid spiralling costs". BBC News. 13 August 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  11. "Local elections will be a close-run battle... on one side of Fitzrovia". Fitzrovia News. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  12. "How the elections work | London Councils". www.londoncouncils.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  13. "Local elections on 5 May 2022 | Westminster City Council". www.westminster.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
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