Labour lose control of Lambeth council for first time in 20 years

Labour has lost control of Lambeth council for the first time in 20 years.

The Greens are now the largest party; however, no party gained overall control of the council.

Lambeth goes from Labour -> No Overall Control (NOC).

Check out all of the election results by ward with our ward and council-level maps over at: https://t.co/QXT1tzrRXB pic.twitter.com/e8s1KiHxeW

— Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) May 9, 2026

According to the BBC:

Labour has controlled Lambeth since 2006. After the 2022 elections, Labour had 54 seats with the Greens and Lib Dems both on four.

The Green Party gained 27 seats, taking their new total to 29. This is up from four at the last election.

The Green Party go from 2 seats to 28 in Lambeth – and Labour lose control!

This is happening in our cities and in many of our rural targets too.

People voting Green Party councillors to help end Rip Off Britain!https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp https://t.co/rymnuWMQnX pic.twitter.com/yyxpggAW2s

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) May 9, 2026

Hilariously, Labour lost 32 seats, leaving the party with only 26.

The Liberal Democrats won eight seats.

This is yet another example of the Labour vote collapsing in former strongholds.

The Labour leader of the council, Claire Holland, managed to keep her seat, but so many others didn’t.

It’s a shame the leader of the council managed to keep her seat but so many other cllrs didn’t.

I’ve written in about countless residents over the years in lambeth and she’d never even acknowledge the emails let alone respond🤷🏽‍♂️

Welp.

— KWAJO- Social Issues Campaigner (@Kwajotweneboa) May 9, 2026

Labour together?

Lambeth is also where Morgan McSweeney, enemy of the Canary and Starmer’s former right-hand man, helped to run a successful Labour campaign to retake it in 2006.

McSweeney resigned as Starmer’s chief of staff in February over the shocking appointment of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador.

Similarly, it was also the training ground for now-MP Steve Reed. He was the leader of Lambeth Borough Council from 2006 to 2012. He is now the MP for Streatham and Croydon North.

Lambeth council was a training ground for both Morgcn McSweeney and Steve Reed. Two of the architects of Labour Together. https://t.co/jaBm6hEWux

— Samantha Asumadu (@SamanthaAsumadu) May 9, 2026

Both were architects of Labour Together — which seems to be falling apart.

However, this makes the loss even more symbolic and will hopefully hit Starmer right where it hurts.

Feature image via Lambeth Council/YouTube