Labour secured a council seat in Hampstead Town for the first time on a miserable night for Conservative candidates across the capital.
The Conservatives lost four of their previous seven council seats as voters expressed their disdain towards Tory leaders over the Patygate scandal and national cost of living crisis.
Labour’s Georgia Gould, Camden’s lead councillor since 2017, said she believed Conservative voters likely abstained because the Prime Minister has damaged their faith in politics.
She said: “I hope next time we are in this hall is to see Keir Starmer elected as the Labour prime minister.”
Indeed, the gains for Labour across the city and notably in Wandsworth, Barnet and Westminster have sent a strong message, even if results nationally were less impressive.
As expected, Labour triumphed overall in Camden, winning 47 out of 55 seats, up from 42 at the last local elections. The Liberal Democrats councillors won four seats, while the Tories claimed three.
In her victory speech Cllr Gould pledged to tackle the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis under her continued leadership.
Meanwhile, admitting it was a shame the borough would not have a stronger number of opposition councillors, Lib Dem councillor for Belsize Tom Simon said he was pleased to win all three seats in Belsize with a healthy margin, having previously held two in the ward.
Councillor Simon said: “The people of Belsize put their trust in the Liberal Democrats again, so we will work hard to repay that trust.”
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