2026 Southwark London Borough Council election

The 2026 Southwark London Borough Council election will take place on 7 May 2026, as part of the 2026 United Kingdom local elections. All 63 members of Southwark London Borough Council will be elected. The election will take place alongside 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 powers are shared with the Greater London Authority, which also manages passenger transport, police, and fire.^[4]

Since its formation, Southwark has been continuously under Labour control, apart from a period of no overall control from 2002 to 2010. All councillors have been from the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, the Conservative Party, the Green Party, or independents. Labour regained its majority in the 2010 election, winning 35 seats with the Liberal Democrats on 25 and the Conservatives on three. Labour extended its majority by winning 48 seats in the 2014 election with the Liberal Democrats on 13 seats and the Conservatives on two. The Conservatives lost all their representation in the 2018 election, with Labour winning 49 seats with 53.09% of the vote across the borough and the Liberal Democrats winning the remaining 14 seats with 21.36% of the vote.^[5] The incumbent council leader, Peter John, was reappointed following the election.^[6] In the most recent election in 2022, Labour extended their lead, with Labour winning 52 seats and the Lib Dems winning 11.

In late 2025 and early 2026, six Labour councillors left the party or were suspended: on 12 July 2025, Cllr Kath Whittam resigned from the party in opposition to Cllr Sarah King being elected as Leader of Southwark Council and the Southwark Labour Group, with Cllr Laura Johnson leaving for the same reason on 7 August 2025.^[7] On 4 September 2025, Cllr Ketzia Harper and Cllr Sam Foster were suspended from the Labour Group for voting against the party whip in opposition to Cllr Sarah King becoming Leader of Southwark Council and Southwark Labour Group.^[8] In November 2025, Labour Cllr Darren Merrill left the party over the government's "rightward shift", and in January 2026 Cllr Reginald Popoola left the Labour Party for the same reason.^[9]

Foster, Whittam, and Popoola joined the Green Party of England and Wales to form a Green group on the council; the other three former Labour councillors continue to sit as independents.^[9]

Southwark, 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.

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.^[10] 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.^[10]