2018 Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council election explained

Election Name:2018 Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council election[1]
Type:Parliamentary
Previous Election:2014 Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council election
Previous Year:2014
Next Election:2022 Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council election
Next Year:2022
Election Date:3 May 2018
Seats For Election:All 46 seats to Hammersmith and Fulham Council
Majority Seats:24
Turnout:39.0% (2.4%)
Party1:Labour Party (UK)
Last Election1:26 seats, 42.2%
Seats1:35
Seat Change1:9
Popular Vote1:27,401
Percentage1:52.0%
Swing1:9.8%
Party2:Conservative Party (UK)
Last Election2:20 seats, 37.9%
Seats2:11
Seat Change2:9
Popular Vote2:18,279
Percentage2:34.7%
Swing2:3.2%
Map Size:250px
Council control
Posttitle:Council control after election
Before Party:Labour Party (UK)
After Party:Labour Party (UK)

The 2018 Hammersmith and Fulham Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Hammersmith and Fulham Council in London.[2] [3]

Overall results

Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council
Members:46 councillors
Structure1:Hammersmith and Fulham Council 2018.svg
Structure1 Res:250px
Political Groups1:Majority Party (35)

Opposition (11)

  • Conservative (11)

Labour consolidated control of the council by gaining 9 seats (in addition to the 11 they gained in 2014), winning 35 in all. The Conservatives lost 9 seats, winning 11 in all. This was the lowest number of Conservative councillors since 1986.

There were no wards with split party representation – for only the fourth time in the fifteen elections since the council was created in 1968. The previous occasions when this occurred was 1990, 1978 and the 1971 Labour landslide.

Another sign of the increased homogeneity was the number of wards where the winning party got less than 50% of the vote – just three wards this time. Ravenscourt Park with 46%, Town with 48% and Sands End with a fraction under 50%. This compares with the 2014 election when there were 6 wards including Sands End with 38%. In the 2010 election there were 10 wards including Addison with 39%. And in the 2006 election there were also 10 wards including Askew with 39%.

26 Councillors successfully retained their seats – 20 Labour and 6 Conservative.5 sitting Councillors were defeated – all Conservative, including the previous opposition leader.[4]

The ward with the highest percentage vote for one party was Wormholt and White City which saw a 76.5% vote share for the Labour Party. This is the highest percentage any party has achieved at the five elections since these wards were established in 2002. Vote share percentages by ward for previous elections are not currently available.

The largest percentage change was in the Shepherds Bush Green ward, where the Labour Party increased its vote share by 20.9 percentage points – as the Green Party did not stand a candidate this time round. The largest percentage decrease was in the Fulham Reach ward where the Conservative vote dropped by 14.6 percentage points.

The candidate with the largest individual tally was Lisa Homan with 2,577 votes in the Askew ward. This veteran councillor has been elected on all but one occasion since 1994 – losing out in 2002 by 44 votes.

One of the successful Conservative candidates in Palace Riverside had been deselected from the same ward in 2006, and had run as an independent candidate – coming within 146 votes of winning at that election.[5]

The Liberal Democrats fielded a full slate of 46 candidates – in 2014 they put forward 39 candidates for election.

UKIP fielded 3 candidates – in 2014 they had 7 candidates.

The Green Party fielded 2 candidates – in 2014 they had 7 candidates.

There was 1 Independent candidate – the same number as in 2014, although a different individual. The 2018 independent had previously run in the same ward in the 2006 local election and in the Hammersmith constituency at the 2017 general election.

TUSC did not stand any candidates in the 2018 local elections – they had two candidates in Hammersmith and Fulham in 2014.

National Health Action Party did not field candidates in the 2018 local elections – they had a single candidate in Hammersmith and Fulham in 2014.

Ward results

(*) represents a candidate seeking re-election in the same ward.

(~) represents a candidate seeking re-election in a different ward.

Wormholt and White City

By-elections

Fulham Broadway

A by-election was held in Fulham Broadway after the resignation of Councillor Alan de'Ath on 19 September 2019.

Wormholt & White City

A by-election was held in Wormholt & White City following the death of Councillor Colin Aherne on 11 July 2021.[6]

References

  1. Web site: Local Election Summaries 2018. The Elections Centre. 24 June 2019.
  2. Web site: Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council.
  3. Web site: 2018 council election results. 10 April 2018.
  4. Web site: Hammersmith and Fulham local elections: Tory leader loses seat. 4 May 2018.
  5. News: Pink News. Knowles, Katherine. Tories deselect single mother and gay Arab. 13 April 2006. 17 January 2023.
  6. Web site: Tribute to Colin Aherne from H&F Leader Stephen Cowan. 12 July 2021.