A new political landscape for London has emerged

A new political landscape for London has emerged

On Thursday 21 of London's 32 boroughs were run by Labour, but it now looks very different

The red blanket that had cloaked London's councils is no more.

The capital, which on Thursday had 21 of is 32 boroughs run by Labour, looks very different today.

For the first time, the capital got a directly elected Green mayor - Zoë Garbett - winning in the former Labour stronghold of Hackney.

Hours later another one, a former Labour councillor, Liam Shrivastava became Lewisham's Green mayor.

For the first time the Greens have won councils in London, taking Lewisham, Waltham Forest and Hackney from Labour.

The two-party system is "dead and buried", said Green Party leader Zack Polanski as he celebrated in Hackney.

For the first time the capital has a Reform UK council - after winning in Havering, the party's leader Nigel Farage declared: "It's under new management."

Zoë Garbett is the Green Party's first borough mayor, elected in Hackney

More splashes of blue on the map too with the Conservatives taking back control of Westminster which they lost to Labour in 2022.

They came close, too, in Wandsworth - becoming the largest party, not quite winning a majority, but doing enough to deprive Labour of the control they won four years ago.

They also managed to hold off a Reform UK challenge in Bexley and Bromley.

They kept control in Harrow and Hillingdon, while Tory mayor of Croydon Jason Perry was re-elected.

"I'm very proud of how we have done," said leader Kemi Badenoch.

Aspire looks set to continue its hold on Tower Hamlets, winning the mayoralty there - putting the finishing touches to the new palette of colours in London's political landscape.

And it is not a pretty picture for Labour.

While they may not have lost as big a proportion of their seats as they did in the rest of England and Wales, these results in the capital cannot be glossed over.

Half the party's membership are in the capital and one in seven of its MPs are here.

London has six million people eligible to vote. The prime minister called it a "tough" night. That's putting it mildly.

Labour did hold on to Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow, but their worst fears were realised in a number of inner London boroughs.

The list of Labour losses is a long and painful one for them.

Lost mayoralties and councils in Hackney and Lewisham, lost councils in Haringey, Brent, Waltham Forest, Southwark, Enfield, Barnet, Lambeth,Wandsworth, Westminster and Newham.

London's mayor Sir Sadiq Khan labelled the results in the capital "bitterly disappointing", and laid the blame on the government.

He said: "I keep hearing anger, disillusionment and disappointment.

"And the direction of that is the Labour government, the promises made in July 2024 haven't been delivered."

There are challenges on the left from the Greens, on the right from Reform UK.

Challenges too in persuading Londoners that Keir Starmer understands their concerns and can address them.

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