What you need to know as Kensington and Chelsea heads into local elections

The turnout was 32.7% and there was a 1.9% swing from the Conservatives to Labour.

Conservative: 35 seats (-1)

Labour: 13 seats (no change)

Lib Dem: 2 seats (+1)

Since the election, three Labour councillors have formed an independent group, one has defected to the Greens and another has defected to the Conservatives.

Another former Labour councillor who had the Labour whip removed was listed as sitting for Advance UK.

Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics said that Kensington and Chelsea is the Conservatives' ultimate rock-solid London borough and it will remain so in 2026.

It is possible the Liberal Democrats or the Greens could win a seat here or there but it is still going to be a Conservative hold.

At the moment, Labour are dominant in London - they have 21 of its 32 councils, a record-equalling high.

The Conservatives run just five - having lost their former "crown-jewel" councils of Wandsworth and Westminster to Labour at the last borough elections in 2022.

The Liberal Democrats run three councils in south-west London and will be looking to gain Merton from Labour.

The Aspire Party run Tower Hamlets and two boroughs are currently in no overall control.

Nick Bowes, insight director from the London Communications Agency, said: "These are likely to be the most consequential elections in London, certainly for the past 20 years - possibly since the first borough elections in 1964."

He added: "The ways things are fragmenting in the polls it's very difficult to predict exactly what's going to happen but it does look like being a very bad night for Labour and the Conservatives in London."

More than six million Londoners can vote in the council elections on Thursday 7 May 2026.

All 32 London boroughs are up for election.

There are also elections for the mayor in five boroughs: Croydon, Hackney, Lewisham, Newham and Tower Hamlets.

All candidates in the Kensington and Chelsea Council election are listed on the borough's website.

Use our tool to see what elections are being held in your area.

The deadline to register to vote is Monday 20 April 2026.

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is Tuesday 21 April 2026 at 17:00 BST - you must be registered to vote before you can receive a postal vote.

The deadline to change existing postal or proxy voting arrangements is also Tuesday 21 April 2026 at 17:00.

The deadline to apply for a proxy vote is Tuesday 28 April 2026 at 17:00.

Photographic voter ID is required to vote at a polling station - if you do not have valid Voter ID, the deadline to apply for photo ID to vote (called a Voter Authority Certificate) for this election is Tuesday 28 April 2026 at 17:00.

Election Day: Thursday 7 May 2026 from 07:00 to 22:00.

You can find more information about voting in Kensington and Chelsea on the borough's website.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is in west London. It is bordered by Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and the River Thames.

What's it like? The UK's most expensive borough, it is characterised by immense wealth, world-class museums and exclusive residential squares. There are also significant pockets of deprivation, particularly in North Kensington which contains some of London's highest concentrations of social housing.

Neighbourhoods: Ladbroke Grove, Portobello Road, Earl's Court, Holland Park, Kensington, parts of Knightsbridge, Fulham Road, Notting Hill, King's Road, Brompton.

Places of interest: Natural History Museum, Portobello Road market, Kensington Palace, Harrods, Victoria and Albert Museum.

Pub quiz fact: Kensington and Chelsea is the smallest London borough by area at just 4.65 square miles (12 sq km).

Population (2024 estimate): 144,518.

Demographics: According to the 2021 census, 64% of residents identify as white, 11.9% as Asian, 7.9% as black, 6.6% as mixed race and 9.9% as other groups.

The borough has a significant international population, with more than 50 nationalities and 80 languages spoken.

Average property price: According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in December 2025 it was £1.18m, the highest price of any London borough.

Average monthly rent: The ONS says the average rent in Kensington and Chelsea was £3,628 in February 2026.

Transport:TfL says the borough has 12 Tube stations, on five London Underground lines: the Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Piccadilly. There are also around 270 bus stops.

You can find more information about Kensington and Chelsea here.

The borough was created in 1965 with the merger of the old metropolitan boroughs of Chelsea and Kensington.

It inherited Kensington's royal borough status, granted by Queen Victoria who was born in Kensington Palace in 1819 and lived there until her accession in 1837.

The new borough was originally intended to be called Kensington, but after protests from thousands of Chelsea residents, it became the only borough in the new 1965 London local government divisions to include an "and" - though others followed in later years.

Kensington and Chelsea has been under Conservative control since it was created in 1965.

The Tories took 50% or more of the popular vote in 12 out of 16 elections so far.

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