| Election Name: | 2006 Camden Council election |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Previous Election: | 2002 Camden London Borough Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2002 |
| Next Election: | 2010 Camden London Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 2010 |
| Seats For Election: | All 54 seats to Camden London Borough Council |
| Majority Seats: | 27 |
| Election Date: | 4 May 2006 |
| Leader1: | Keith Moffitt |
| Leader Since1: | 2005 |
| Party1: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Leaders Seat1: | West Hampstead |
| Last Election1: | 8 seats, 23.2% |
| Seats1: | 20 |
| Seat Change1: | 12 |
| Popular Vote1: | 16,241 |
| Percentage1: | 27.8% |
| Swing1: | 4.6% |
| Leader2: | Raj Chada |
| Leader Since2: | 2005 |
| Party2: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Leaders Seat2: | Gospel Oak (lost) |
| Last Election2: | 35 seats, 33.3% |
| Seats2: | 18 |
| Seat Change2: | 17 |
| Popular Vote2: | 16,940 |
| Percentage2: | 29.0% |
| Swing2: | 4.3% |
| Leader4: | Piers Wauchope |
| Leader Since4: | 2000 |
| Party4: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Leaders Seat4: | Belsize (lost) |
| Last Election4: | 11 seats, 25.2% |
| Seats4: | 14 |
| Seat Change4: | 3 |
| Popular Vote4: | 15,187 |
| Percentage4: | 26.0% |
| Swing4: | 0.8% |
| Party5: | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Last Election5: | 0 seats, 13.6% |
| Seats5: | 2 |
| Seat Change5: | 2 |
| Popular Vote5: | 8,652 |
| Percentage5: | 14.8% |
| Swing5: | 1.2% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Leader | |
| Posttitle: | Leader |
| Before Election: | Raj Chada |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Keith Moffitt |
| After Party: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
The 2006 Camden Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Camden London Borough Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the Labour Party lost overall control of the council to no overall control.[1]
Before the election the Labour party controlled the council with 36 seats, compared to 11 Conservatives and 7 Liberal Democrats.[2] Since the 2002 election, in 2005, one of the councillors for Fortune Green, Jonathan Simpson, had defected from the Liberal Democrats to Labour.[3]
A total of 223 candidates stood for the 54 seats being contested in 18 wards.[2] The Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Green parties contested every seat and there was 1 candidate each from the Christian Peoples Alliance, Respect Party and United Kingdom Independence Party, as well as 4 independents.[2]
Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Camden during the campaign to support his party.[4]
The results saw Labour lose their majority on the council with the leader of the council Raj Chada among those who were defeated.[5] This was the first time since the 1968 election that Labour had not won a majority in Camden[5] [6] and the election saw the Liberal Democrats overtake Labour to become the largest party on the council.[7] The defeated Labour leader of the council Raj Chadha said "that the national circumstances meant a very good council in Camden has been lost".[5] Overall turnout at the election was 37.6%, an increase from 28.5% in 2002.[2]
Following the election the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives made an agreement to form the administration together, with Liberal Democrat Keith Moffitt becoming the leader of the council and Conservative Andrew Marshall becoming deputy leader.[8]
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Existing Councillor seeking re-election is denoted by an asterisk (*).