Labour gain seats but fall just short of taking control of Council


The votes are counted. Picture: Wandsworth Council

The Conservatives have managed to retain control of Wandsworth Council despite losing a number of seats in the local elections. The number of councillors the party have has been reduced from 41 to 33 with Labour taking 26 and one independent being elected. This is the closest they have come to defeat since 1978.

At the close of polling at 10pm the early indications were that turnout had increased compared with 2014. Results elsewhere were giving the Conservatives encouragement and Putney MP Justine Greening talked about last year's General Election representing 'peak-Corbyn.' London Mayor Sadiq Khan who was a Councillor in the borough for many years seemed to backtrack on previous predictions of a Labour victory and talked in terms of gaining seats in the borough rather than gaining control. He said that Labour had canvassed and delivered leaflets in areas they had never done so before.

Labour hopes were raised early on as the first ward results were declared just before 3am. They managed to gain all three seats in the previously split wards in Queenstown Road and Bedford. In the case of Queenstown Road the swing to Labour was large enough for them to believe a shock victory might be on the cards. They also gained some encouragement from the news that a recount was taking place in St Mary's Park ward which was a key target.

However, these hopes were quickly dashed just after 3am when the result from the key Southfields ward was announced with the Conservatives comfortably retaining all three seats. Labour needed to take at least two in this ward to have any chance of winning the Council. It was around this time that Sadiq Khan chose to leave the counting suggesting that he had recognised the loss in Southfields was decisive.

It wasn't, however, a comfortable night for the Conservatives and any complacency that a win was guaranteed disappeared with the result from the West Hill ward which saw independent candidate Malcolm Grimston gain over 4,000 votes with the Labour party taking the two other seats in the ward.

Cllr Grimston tweeted, "Seriously humbled to get 4002 votes as an Independent - biggest vote of the night. I will try to live up to my Ward's hopes for me and will hold both Parties to account when they deserve it (and support them similarly)". The other two seats were won by Labour's Angela Ireland and Peter Carpenter.

After 24 hours to reflect on his result Cllr Grimston told this website: ""I hope the two main parties will realise that residents are fed up of being ignored for three and a bit years and then being swamped with visits and literature when their votes are required. That the largest vote in Wandsworth Council's history did not go to Labour or Conservative ought to make them realise that there is more to serving the local community than a two month flashy campaign."

Although at this time Labour was notionally ahead of the Conservatives with 23 seats to 21 the remaining wards to declare were all Tory held and unlikely to be won by Labour given the swing they had achieved. A number of recounts were being held but the Conservatives told reporters they were confident about the outcome.

Council leader Ravi Govindia said he attributed the result to a focus on local not national issues.

As expected, the Conservatives lost seats elsewhere in London and the Lib Dems managed to gain control of Richmond on Thames. On the other hand Labour failed to take Westminster, another borough they had hoped to win.

West Hill Ward

All change - 1 Independent & 2 Labour

Thamesfield Ward

Conservative Hold

Southfields Ward

Conservative Hold

Roehampton and Putney Heath Ward

Labour Hold

East Putney Ward

Conservative Hold

May 5, 2018