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2022 Kingston upon Thames Council election

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All 48 seats on Kingston upon Thames Borough Council 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Lib Con KIR Leader Andreas Kirsch Rowena Bass James Giles Party Liberal Democrats Conservative KIRG Leader since October 2021 May 2022 May 2022 Leader's seat Chessington South and Malden Rushett Coombe Hill Green Lane and St James Last election 39 seats, 51.7% 9 seats, 30.6% 0 seats Seats before 44 3 1 Seats won 44 3 1 Seat change 5 6 1 Popular vote 60,732 32,179 4,935 Percentage 47.9% 25.4% 12.7%
Results of the 2022 Kingston upon Thames council election. Liberal Democrats in yellow, Conservatives in blue and the KIRG in pink.
Council control before election Liberal Democrats Subsequent council control Liberal Democrats

The 2022 Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect all 48 members of Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.

The Liberal Democrats retained overall majority control of the council, the fifth time in the last six elections that the party has won overall control.

Background

History

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.

Since its formation, Kingston upon Thames has been under Liberal Democrat control, Conservative control and no overall control. The Liberal Democrats have controlled the council since 2002, apart from the period between 2014 and 2018 when the Conservatives had an overall majority. The Liberal Democrats regained control in the most recent election in 2018, where they won 39 seats with 51.7% of the vote and the Conservatives won the remaining nine seats with 30.6% of the vote. The Labour Party lost both seats they were defending and received 11.9% of the vote across the borough.

Council term

A Liberal Democrat councillor, Sharon Falchikov-Sumner, left her party in 2018 after the council voted to close their last residential care home. She joined the Green Party in February 2019. In March 2020, the council leader Liz Green was successfully challenged by Caroline Kerr, a Liberal Democrat councillor who was first elected in 2018. A Liberal Democrat councillor for Chessington South, Tricia Bamford, resigned in December 2020 due to a change in her family circumstances. A by-election to replace her was not held until 6 May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The by-election, which was contested by thirteen Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidates, was won by the Liberal Democrat candidate Andrew MacKinlay. Mackinlay had previously served as the Labour MP for Thurrock. In September 2021, the Liberal Democrat councillor Jon Tolley left his party due to policy disagreements with the council executive. He announced that he wouldn't contest the next election, saying "I think we were lying to the public" about the demolition of a leisure centre in his ward. Kerr announced her resignation as council leader in October 2021.

As with most London boroughs, Kingston upon Thames was electing its councillors under new boundaries decided by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, which it produced after a period of consultation. The number of councillors remained at 48, but the commission produced new boundaries following a period of consultation, with ten three-member wards and nine two-member wards.

Electoral process

Kingston upon Thames, like other London borough councils, elects all of its councillors at once every four years. The previous election took place in 2018. The election took 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 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. 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.

Previous council composition

• Council composition after the 2018 election
• Council composition ahead of the 2022 election

Results summary

2022 Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council election

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	44	5	0	5	91.1	47.9	60,732	-3.8
	Conservative	3	0	6	6	6.7	25.4	32,179	-5.2
	KIRG	1	1	0	1	2.2	5.7	7,221	+3.4
	Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	12.7	16,123	+0.8
	Green	0	0	0	0	0.0	7.6	9,622	+4.3
	Monster Raving Loony	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.4	474	+0.3
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	213	+0.1
	Women's Equality	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	212	New
	Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	97	New

Ward Results

Since elections were fought on new boundaries, vote share can't be directly compared with the 2018 results. Candidates marked * were sitting councillors at the time of election.

Alexandra

Berrylands

Canbury Gardens

Chessington South & Malden Rushett

Coombe Hill

Coombe Vale

Green Lane & St James

Hook & Chessington North

King George's & Sunray

Kingston Gate

Kingston Town

Motspur Park & Old Malden East

New Malden Village

Election was postponed due to the death of Mary Jean Clark

Norbiton

Old Malden

St Mark's & Seething Wells

Sharron Sumner was elected in 2018 in Alexandra ward as a Liberal Democrat, but resigned from the council in early 2022.

Surbiton Hill

Tolworth

Tudor

2022–2026 by-elections

Green Lane & St James

References

1. "The essential guide to London local government | London Councils". www.londoncouncils.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
2. Holder, Josh. "Local council elections 2018 – results in full". the Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
3. Rutter, Calum (25 February 2019). "'We're facing a climate catastrophe' says Kingston councillor". MyLondon. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
4. Bayley, Sian (24 March 2020). "Kingston Council's leader ousted at a key moment in the coronavirus crisis". MyLondon. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
5. Bayley, Sian (1 December 2020). "Chessington councillor resigns from Kingston Council". MyLondon. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
6. Wratten, Marcus (7 April 2021). "Chessington South by-election candidates share top priorities in the "forgotten end of the borough"". Kingston Courier. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
7. Bayley, Sian (3 March 2021). "First candidates for Kingston's Chessington South by-election announced". MyLondon. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
8. "'We're making a stupid mistake' - Jon Tolley QUITS Kingston Lib Dems". Surrey Comet. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
9. "Kingston councillor who quit Lib Dems won't stand in May election". South West Londoner. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
10. "Kingston Council leader Caroline Kerr resigns". Surrey Comet. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
11. "LGBCE | New political map for Kingston upon Thames Council | LGBCE Site". www.lgbce.org.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
12. ^ "How the elections work | London Councils". www.londoncouncils.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
13. Firby, Jamie. "Local election update: New Malden Village Ward". www.kingston.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2022.

• Council elections in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
• 2022 London Borough council elections