In the previous election in 2018, the Conservative Party had maintained their longstanding control of the council, winning 41 out of the 60 seats with the Labour Party forming the council opposition with the remaining 19 seats. However, Labour won an 8-seat council majority for the first time since the formation of the modern city in 1964.[1] The 2022 election took place under new election boundaries, reducing the number of councillors to 54.
Background
History
Result of the 2018 borough election
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.[2]
Westminster City Council had continuously been under Conservative Party control since its establishment. In the most recent election in 2018, Westminster was considered a key target for Labour in London.[3] The Conservatives won the election, with 41 seats on 42.8% of the vote across the borough while Labour won 19 seats with 41.1% of the vote.[4]
Council term
The Conservative councillor Robert Davis, who represented Lancaster Gate and had served on the council since 1982, resigned after an investigation into his conduct found that he broke the councillors' code of conduct for receiving a large number of gifts and hospitality from property developers.[5] The 22 November 2018 by-election was held for the Conservatives by Margot Bright with the Labour candidate coming in second place.[6] In March 2021, Andrea Mann, a Labour councillor for Churchill ward, resigned for family reasons.[7] The by-election to fill the seat was held on 6 May 2021 alongside the 2021 London mayoral election and London Assembly election. The Labour candidate Liza Begum won, with an increased majority compared to the 2018 election.[8]
Along with most London boroughs, this election occurred under new ward boundaries. Following local consultation, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England produced new boundaries, reducing the number of councillors from 60 to 54 across eighteen three-councillor wards.[9]
Campaign
The Conservative peer Robert Hayward listed Westminster as one of four Conservative councils in London that his party risked losing control of in the wake of the partygate scandal. The concentration of Labour voters in a small number of wards means that relatively few seats in the borough are marginal.[10] Labour criticised the Conservative council for the Marble Arch Mound's cost, which had led to the resignation of the council's deputy leader Melvyn Caplan.[10][11]Fitzrovia News wrote that the new West End ward would be competitive between Labour and the Conservatives, with Labour having won one of the three seats on previous boundaries.[12]
Electoral process
Westminster, as with all other London borough councils, elects all of its councillors at once every four years, with the previous election having taken place in 2018. At the same time elections were held for the 12 seats of Queen's Park Community Council, the Parish council in the north west of the city, with these being administered by the Returning Officer at the City Council and both elections were counted together overnight.
The elections took place by multi-member first-past-the-post voting, with each ward being represented by three councillors. Electors had as many votes as there are councillors to be elected in their ward, with the top three being elected.
All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in London aged 18 or over were entitled to vote in the election. People who lived at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, were entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities.[13] Voting in-person at polling stations took place from 7:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters were able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.[13]
