2014 London local elections explained

Election Name:2014 London local elections
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Turnout:38.9% (23.1%)
Party Colour:yes
Previous Election:London local elections, 2010
Previous Year:2010
Next Election:London local elections, 2018
Next Year:2018
Seats For Election:All 1,851 councillors on all 32 London boroughs
Election Date:22 May 2014
1Blank:Councils
2Blank:Gain/loss
3Blank:Councillors
4Blank:Gain/loss
Leader1:Len Duvall
Party1:Labour
Colour1:DC241f
Popular Vote1:944,967
Percentage1:37.6%
Swing1:5.1%
1Data1:20
2Data1:3
3Data1:1,060
4Data1:185
Leader2:Boris Johnson
Party2:Conservative
Colour2:0087DC
Popular Vote2:663,847
Percentage2:26.4%
Swing2:5.3%
1Data2:9
2Data2:2
3Data2:612
4Data2:105
Leader4:Caroline Pidgeon
Party4:Liberal Democrats
Color4:FAA61A
Popular Vote4:267,769
Percentage4:10.6%
Swing4:11.8%
1Data4:1
2Data4:1
3Data4:116
4Data4:130
Leader5:Jenny Jones
Party5:Green
Color5:32CD32
Popular Vote5:246,805
Percentage5:9.8%
Swing5:3.2%
1Data5:0
3Data5:4
4Data5:2
Map Size:400px

There were local government elections in London on Thursday 22 May 2014. All councillor seats on the 32 London borough councils were up for election. The electorates of Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets also elected their executive mayors, who operate in place of council leaders in those boroughs. Ward changes took place in Hackney, Kensington and Chelsea, and Tower Hamlets, which reduced the total number of councillors by 10 to 1,851. Both the mayoral and councillor elections are four-yearly.

The results saw London Labour achieve their best result in over 40 years, winning 1,060 councillors, control of 20 out of 32 councils and 38% of the popular vote (their highest since 1998). Only the elections of 1964, 1971 and 1974 have seen Labour win more than 1,060 council seats in London, and Labour has not controlled 20 councils or more since 1971. This result was subsequently surpassed by the party's performance in the 2018 elections.

The London Conservatives dropped to their lowest-ever percentage of the vote in a London local election, at just 26.4%, and fell to their lowest councillor total since 1998. The London Liberal Democrats' vote halved, with the party dropping to 11% of the popular vote and 116 seats (down 130), the worst result for the Lib Dems or the Liberals since 1978.

The election saw a record vote for parties outside the 3 major parties, with UKIP, the London Green Party, independents and other minor parties winning a collective 25.4% of the vote, the highest since the creation of the London Boroughs in 1964. 63 minor party or independent councillors were elected in total.

UKIP and the Greens saw their best-ever results in terms of vote share (9.8% for the Greens and 9.5% for UKIP), but whilst UKIP gained 12 seats, the Greens gained just 2.

Following the elections, two of the thirty two London borough councils were in no overall control, a decrease of one. All four mayoral elections returned the incumbent mayors: 3 Labour and 1 Tower Hamlets First.

Results summary

Party[1] Votes won% votesChangeSeats% seatsChangeCouncilsChange
Labour944,96737.65.11,06057.3185203
663,84726.45.361233.110592
267,76910.611.81166.313011
246,8059.83.240.220
239,0019.58.4120.6120
Others152,6846.10.4472.5260
26

Councils results

CouncilOverall result UKIPGreenOthersTurnoutCouncil election
20102014[3]
Barking and Dagenham51 38.16%Details
32 30 1 41.10%Details
45 15 3 Details
6 56 1 33.00%Details
51 7 2 Details
12 40 1 1 38.69%Details
30 40 38.00%Details
12 53 4 41.30%Details
22 41 37.79%Details
8 43 37.25%Details
4 50 3 42.89%Details
20 26 38.00%Details
48 9 38.10%Details
26 34 1 2[4] 41.00%Details
22 1 7 24[5] Details
42 23 35.76%Details
11 49 36.80%Details
47 1 38.40%Details
37 12 1 Details
28 2 18 Details
3 59 1 32.00%Details
53 1 Details
20 36 1 3[6] 41.00%Details
60 40.62%Details
25 35 3 39.70%Details
39 15 46.30%Details
2 48 13 Details
9 45 42.20%Details
5 22 18[7] Details
16 44 59.22%Details
41 19 Details
44 16 32.35%Details
Totals612 1,060 116 12 4 47

Others and notes

Overall councillors by party

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Three seats in Barnet (Colindale) and three in Tower Hamlets (Blackwall and Cubitt Town) were vacancies until elections held on 26 June 2014 in Colindale[8] and on 3 July 2014 in Blackwall and Cubitt Town.[9]

Opinion polling

Date(s)
conducted
Polling organisation/clientSample sizeLabConLib DemGrnUKIPOthersLead
22 May 20142014 elections2,515,07337.6%26.4%10.6%9.8%9.5%6.1%11.2%
6–8 May 2014YouGov1,42240%33%11%2%10%4%7%
28–29 April 2014Survation1,00142%26%14%4%11%3%16%
6 May 20102010 elections3,733,28932.5%31.7%22.4%6.6%1.1%5.7%0.8%

Mayoral results

In four London boroughs the executive function of the council is a directly elected mayor. The mayoral elections take place at the same time as councillor elections in those boroughs.

Mayoralty20102014
HackneyJules Pipe (Labour)Jules Pipe (Labour)
LewishamSir Steve Bullock (Labour)Sir Steve Bullock (Labour)
NewhamRobin Wales (Labour)Robin Wales (Labour)
Tower HamletsLutfur Rahman (Independent)Lutfur Rahman (Tower Hamlets First)

Ward result maps

London-wide

The map below shows the results for each ward across the whole of Greater London.

By borough

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Year Tables. 19 December 2015.
  2. Web site: Piggott. Gareth. London Borough Council Elections 22 May 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20161220105717/https://files.datapress.com/london/dataset/borough-council-election-results-2014/London-Borough-Council-Elections-2014.pdf. 2016-12-20. files.datapress.com. Greater London Authority.
  3. Web site: 2014 borough elections results. London councils. 2014-05-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20140522193513/http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/londonfacts/elections2014/default.htm. 22 May 2014. dead. dmy-all.
  4. Harrow: Independent, 2;
  5. Havering: Havering Residents Association, 19; Independent Residents, 5;
  6. Merton: Merton Park Ward Independent Residents, 3;
  7. Tower Hamlets: Tower Hamlets First, 18;
  8. Web site: 21 May 2014. Date announced for new Colindale election. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140526134800/http://www.barnet.gov.uk/news/article/515/date_announced_for_new_colindale_election. 26 May 2014. 2014-05-26. barnet.gov.uk. dmy-all.
  9. Web site: Labour and Tories take council seats in Blackwall and Cubitt Town by-election. Adam. Barnett. 4 July 2014. East London Advertiser.