May’s local elections completely transformed London’s political landscape, argues CEO Jonny Popper.
Labour – usually so dominant – lost control of 12 local authorities and 460 of their 1,156 councillors. The Party now has an overall majority in just 9 boroughs, although they do remain the party with by far the most councillors in London. The Tories did very little – ending up with just three more councillors than they started with and gaining only Westminster City Council. The Lib Dems made next to no impact, failing to gain their target borough of Merton. Nine boroughs came back as No Overall Control (NOC) where no single party won a majority. With so much change, there were three key stories of these elections.
The rise of the Greens
As expected, the Greens performed extremely well across inner London, winning three boroughs, with 279 councillors in total, up from just 18 in 2022.
They pulled off a stunning victory in Hackney, their number one target, where Zoë Garbett was elected as Mayor with 47% of the vote, while they increased their councillors from two to 40. Similarly, Liam Shrivastava was elected Mayor of Lewisham, where the party also managed to win 40 councillors in a borough that had been a ‘one party state’, returning only Labour councillors in 2022. The Greens also won Waltham Forest from Labour with 31 out of 60 councillors from a standing start, while they now also run Haringey as a minority administration, having come up just one seat short of an overall …
Subscribe to The Mace
Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of
what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs,
with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from
Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and
resource for the government affairs industry, offering required
reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.
To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes
having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing
professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by
government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy
and political decision-makers.
Rachel Reeves’ first spending review sets out Labour’s fiscal priorities, committing new funds to defence, the NHS and infrastructure projects like nuclear energy and housing. Despite limited headroom
The FTSE 100 ended Tuesday at 8,254.18, narrowly missing its all-time closing high. Mining stocks and a weaker pound lifted the index, while cautious investor sentiment and upcoming
Labour has cancelled a high-priced corporate conference due to weak demand from executives and lobbyists. The £5,000-per-head event faced criticism over costs and limited ministerial access. It follows
A U.S. federal court has struck down President Trump’s global tariffs, ruling they exceed the limits of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The administration has appealed, insisting
Reform UK has proposed raising the personal tax allowance to £20,000, a policy expected to cost up to £80 billion. The party plans to fund it by scrapping
Renatus Tactical Acquisition Corp I marked its Nasdaq debut on 23 May 2025 following a $241.5 million IPO. Led by former DWAC executives, the SPAC targets blockchain, security,
The UK economy grew 0.7% in Q1 2025, the fastest among G7 nations, offering a political lift to the Labour government. The Bank of England upgraded its annual
Trump’s Catholic allies are exerting growing influence in Rome as a new conclave approaches. Backed by wealthy donors and political operatives, they are campaigning for a more traditional
The world of NFT art isn’t just about individual artists selling work to crypto nerds. As big brands get involved, there’s money to be made and kudos to