The 2026 Camden London Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2026, as part of the 2026 United Kingdom local elections. All 55 members of Camden London Borough Council were elected. The election took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs.
Prior to the election, the council was under Labour majority control. Labour lost a third of its seats at this election, but narrowly retained its majority on the council. One of those who lost their seat was the incumbent leader of the council, Richard Olszewski. After the election, Labour chose Sagal Abdi-Wali to be its new group leader. She was formally confirmed as the new leader of the council at the subsequent annual council meeting on 20 May 2026.
Background
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.
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; the most recent election in 2022 saw Labour win 47 seats with 56.6% of the overall vote. The Liberal Democrats won four seats with 17.6% of the vote, the Conservatives won three seats with 19.2% of the vote, and the Greens won one seat with 5.1% of the vote. The incumbent leader of the council was the Labour councillor Richard Olszewski, who held that position from 2024 until his defeat at this election to the Green Party.
Electoral process
Camden, as is the case with all other London borough councils, elects all of its councillors at once every four years, with the previous election having taken place in 2022. The election takes 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 are 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. Voting in-person at polling stations takes place from 7:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters are able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.
Council composition After 2022 election Before 2026 election Party Seats Party Seats 47 44 4 6 3 3 1 1 0 1 Changes 2022–2026: May 2022: Adrian Cohen (Labour) resigns – by-election held July 2022 July 2022: Linda Chung (Liberal Democrats) gains by-election from Labour April 2023: Will Prince (Labour) resigns – by-election held June 2023 June 2023: Tommy Gale (Labour) wins by-election October 2023: Siân Berry (Green) resigns – by-election held November 2023 November 2023: Lorna Russell (Green) wins by-election March 2024: Gio Spinella (Conservative) resigns – by-election held May 2024 May 2024: Steve Adams (Conservative) wins by-election July 2024: Danny Beales (Labour), Georgia Gould (Labour), and Lloyd Hatton (Labour) resign – by-elections held September 2024 September 2024: Joseph Ball (Labour), Tricia Leman (Labour), and Robert Thompson (Labour) win by-elections March 2025: Shiva Tiwari (Labour) joins Conservatives July 2025: Shiva Tiwari (Conservative) resigns – by-election held August 2025 August 2025: Janet Grauberg (Liberal Democrats) gains by-election from Labour April 2026: Sue Vincent (Labour) leaves party to sit as an independent
Election results Election result
Ward results
List of candidates: 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
Naser won election, but was ineligible to be a councillor by virtue of being a teacher at a Camden secondary school.
South Hampstead
St Pancras and Somers Town
West Hampstead
By-elections Regent's Park
References