2026 Lewisham London Borough Council election

The 2026 Lewisham London Borough Council election will take place on 7 May 2026, as part of the 2026 United Kingdom local elections. All 54 members of Lewisham London Borough Council will be elected, along with the Mayor of Lewisham. The election will take place alongside the local elections in the other London boroughs.^[2][3]

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.^[4]

Since its formation, Lewisham has generally had a Labour majority. The only exceptions have been the period between 1968 and 1971 when the Conservatives controlled the council and a period of no overall control from 2006 to 2010 (though under the mayoral system Labour still formed the administration). Labour regained control of the council in the 2010 election, winning 39 seats to the Liberal Democrats' twelve seats. The Conservatives won two seats and the Green Party won one seat. Labour extended its majority in the 2014 election, winning 53 seats with a single Green councillor being elected. In the 2018 and 2022 elections, Labour won all fifty-four seats to the council.

A mayoral by-election was triggered following the resignation of previous mayor Damien Egan to stand in the 2024 Kingswood by-election. It was the first mayoral election run under first past the post rather than the prior use of supplementary vote. The winning candidate, Brenda Dacres, is the first black woman to serve as a directly elected mayor in the UK.^[5]

In 2025, two Labour councillors joined the Green Party, and make up the official opposition on Lewisham Council. This is the first time Lewisham Council has had an opposition group since 2010.^[6]

Lewisham, as is the case all other London borough councils, elects all of its councillors at once every four years, with the previous election having taken place in 2022. The election takes place by multi-member first-past-the-post voting, with each ward being represented by two or three councillors. Electors will have as many votes as there are councillors to be elected in their ward, with the top two or three being elected.

Lewisham is one of five London councils led by a directly elected mayor; all voters across the borough vote to elect a mayor by first past the post system in addition to voting for their local councillor.

All registered electors (British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens) living in London aged 18 or over are entitled to vote in the election. People who live at two addresses in different councils, such as university students with different term-time and holiday addresses, are entitled to be registered for and vote in elections in both local authorities.^[7] Voting in-person at polling stations takes place from 7:00 to 22:00 on election day, and voters are able to apply for postal votes or proxy votes in advance of the election.^[7]