Control of this Tory stronghold has not changed since it was created in 1965, as one of the few London boroughs with a double placename in its title. But after a slew of resignations and cross-party defections, and with both Reform and the Green Party on the rise, the UK’s
Simon Hunt
Thursday 23 April 2026 1:57 am | Updated: Wednesday 22 April 2026 8:11 pm
Control of this Tory stronghold has not changed since it was created in 1965, as one of the few London boroughs with a double placename in its title. But after a slew of resignations and cross-party defections, and with both Reform and the Green Party on the rise, the UK’s poshest council could soon have a very different look.
Kensington and Chelsea Council has always been a solid Conservative stronghold, with the party never having lost an election since the London council’s creation in 1965.
But in the 2026 local elections, everything could be about to change.
Deep divisions exist on the left. While Labour won 13 council seats at the 2022 local election, barely more than half are left.
Several prominent people have resigned from the party in recent years over accusations of Corbyn-supporting councillors being pushed aside. That includes councillor Emma Dent Coad, the former Labour MP for Kensington, who was blocked from standing as a parliamentary candidate for the party by Keir Starmer ahead of the 2024 general election.
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Labour will be fielding a number of new candidates in May’s election in a bid to claw back the seats they lost from resignations and defections. But they face another threat from the left in the form of the insurgent Green party, which is now polling ahead of Labour in the national polls after leader Zack Polanski rose to prominence. Having won only one seat in the 2022 local election, it won’t be hard for the party to increase its presence on the council this time around.
2026 local elections: will the Conservatives keep their majority?
On the right, there are questions over whether the Conservatives will be able to hold on to their majority. The party won 36 seats, representing 72 per cent of the council, in the 2022 local election.
But in recent months, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which has been polling above 30 per cent in the national polls, is hoping to split the right-wing vote and poach support from the Conservatives. The party has been seen campaigning around the borough, where it is hoping to put itself on the map for the first time in 2026.
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There are also questions over the Conservative-run council’s management of the borough. Kensington and Chelsea recently suffered a cyber attack in which the personal data of residents were stolen, leaving some systems down and delaying the collection of council tax.
A couple of years earlier, a popular cycle lane on Kensington High Street was controversially closed.
The borough will also be a victim of the government’s new local authority funding formula, losing a whopping £10m in funding over four years amid a redistribution of funds towards more deprived councils.
But no one is predicting a Conservative wipe-out.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is widely seen as the poshest district in London, with some of the most expensive property in the country. When the capital’s boroughs were formed under the London Government Act 1963, single-name boroughs were insisted upon – but it’s said that an exception was made for Kensington and Chelsea, because ministers were afraid of upsetting the temperaments of well-heeled residents.
They are unlikely to throw their full weight behind an untested, upstart rival to the Conservatives. But if Reform can peel away even a small number of votes, this could end up looking like a very different council.
City AM is previewing local election votes taking place in every London borough. Click here for a full overview of May 7.
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