2022 Bexley London Borough Council election

2022 Bexley London Borough Council election
All 45 council seats
	Map of the results. Conservatives in blue, Labour in red.
Council control before election; Conservative;	Subsequent council control ; Conservative;

The 2022 Bexley London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. 45 members of Bexley London Borough Council were elected. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.

In the previous election in 2018, the Conservative Party maintained its longstanding control of the council, winning 34 out of the 45 seats with the Labour Party forming the council opposition with the remaining 11 seats.

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.^[1]

Bexley has generally been controlled by the Conservatives since its creation, except for the elections of 1964, 1971 and 2002 which resulted in Labour councils, and the 1994 council election which resulted in no overall control. Most councillors for the borough have been from the Conservative and Labour parties, with a number of Liberal Democrats being elected between 1982 and 2002. Independent and UK Independence Party candidates have also been elected. In the prior election in 2018, the Conservatives maintained their longstanding control of the council, winning 34 seats while Labour won eleven.^[2] Although neither party won any seats, the Liberal Democrats received 5.7% of the vote across the borough and the UK Independence Party won 5.6% of the vote. The 2018 elections took place on new boundaries which reduced the number of councillors for the borough from 63 to 45. These boundaries remained in place for the 2022 election.

Council term

One of the three Labour councillors for Thamesmead East, Danny Hackett, resigned from his party in 2019 to sit as an independent councillor. He blamed the party's leadership for "a culture of bullying and toxicity".^[3] Later in 2019, Hackett denied allegations against him from several women who had accused him of sexual misconduct and harassment.^[4] One of the Conservative councillors for Longlands ward, Gareth Bacon, was elected as MP for Orpington in the 2019 general election. He announced his intention to resign as a councillor in 2021, though due to the COVID-19 pandemic the by-election was not held until 6 May 2021.^[5] The Conservative candidate Lisa-Jane Moore was elected to successfully defend the seat for her party. The Member of Parliament for Old Bexley and Sidcup, a constituency covering the southern part of the borough, James Brokenshire, died in October 2021. In the ensuing by-election, the Conservative candidate was Louie French, a councillor for Falconwood and Welling, and the Labour candidate Daniel Francis was a councillor for Belvedere ward.^[6]^[7] The Conservatives held the seat on a reduced majority.^[8]

Electoral process

Bexley, as with all other London borough councils, elects all of its councillors at once every four years, with the previous election having taken 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 had 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.^[9] 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.^[9]

Councillors not standing for re-election

A number of councillors did not stand for re-election and/or had their party whip removed due to impropriety or controversy. Councillor Danny Hackett, Thamesmead East (Labour), was an Independent councillor after allegations of sexual misconduct on social media.^[10] Councillor Adam Wildman, Blackfen & Lamorbey (Conservative) no longer sat as a Tory after being found to have participated in a lockdown-breaking party with former mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey.^[11] Councillor Dave Putson, Belvedere (Labour) also lost the whip. Councillor Linda Bailey, Crook Log (Conservative) died in office in 2022. Finally, Councillor Louie French, Falconwood & Welling (Conservative) ceased to take an allowance after being elected at the Old Bexley & Sidcup by-election of 2021. He did, however, attend the final council meeting of the 2018-2022 term.

Outcome of 2022 election

Despite initial suggestions of around four seats changing hands from the Conservative party to the Labour party, this did not materialise. However, the previously split ward of Northumberland Heath returned two Labour candidates compared to a previous one Labour and one Conservative. Across the Borough, the vote share for the Conservative party fell by around 4%, with Labour gaining around 7%. In the seat of East Wickham, the highest placed Labour candidate was only 41 votes short of the nearest Conservative. In Crayford, that number was only 89. Many seats began to become more marginal as a result of lower turnout and increased Labour votes in some areas. The Liberal Democrats did not increase their vote share on a borough-wide basis, but did succeed in increasing their vote share in some seats.

Previous council composition

Councillors prior to the 2022 election
Councillors after 2022 election

After 2018 election			After 2022 election
Party		Seats	Party		Seats
	Conservative	34		Conservative	33
	Labour	11		Labour	12

Results summary

2022 Bexley London Borough Council election
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
Conservative	33	0	1	1	73.3	50.8	74,254	+0.4
Labour	12	1	0	1	26.7	44.0	64,294	+10.3
Liberal Democrats	0	0	0	0	0.0	3.4	5,005	-2.3
Green	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.7	1,071	-1.0
Reform UK	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.7	957	New
Independent	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	261	-1.0
British Democrats	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.2	253	New
SDP	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.1	100	New
CPA	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0	64	New

Ward results

Statements of persons nominated were published on 6 April.^[12] Incumbent councillors are marked with an asterisk (*). Those elected are in bold.

Barnehurst

Barnehurst (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Bishop*	1,637	59.4	+2.6
	Conservative	Howard Jackson*	1,599	58.0	+3.7
	Labour	Elizabeth Folarin	1,173	42.5
	Labour	Andrew Smith	1,106	40.1
Turnout			5,515	33.9	−4.87
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Belvedere

Belvedere (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sally Hinkley*	2,033	61.0	−0.3
	Labour	Esther Amaning*	1,998	60.0	−9.5
	Labour	Daniel Francis*	1,956	58.7	−1.4
	Conservative	Christine Bishop*	1,278	38.4	−10.5
	Conservative	William Dorgu	1,126	33.8
	Conservative	Viny Poon	1,072	32.2
	Green	Sarah Barry	533	16.0
Turnout			9,996	31.3	−2.68
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Bexleyheath

Bexleyheath (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sue Gower*	2,364	60.9	+0.4
	Conservative	Bola Carew	2,154	55.5
	Conservative	Rags Sandhu	1,983	51.1
	Labour	Eric Davies	1,599	41.2
	Labour	Matthew Murphy	1,568	40.4
	Labour	Pat Ball	1,532	39.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jawharah Albakri	436	11.2
Turnout			11,636	35.5	−0.01
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blackfen and Lamorbey

Blackfen and Lamorbey (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hunt*	2,199	59.3	+1.6
	Conservative	Peter Craske*	2,185	58.9	+1.2
	Conservative	Cafer Munur*	1,924	51.9	+6.6
	Labour	Josephine Chodha	1,349	36.4
	Labour	John Cove	1,310	35.3
	Labour	Daniel Jenkins	1,295	34.9	+9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Kelly	538	14.5
	Reform UK	Michael Pastor	325	8.8
Turnout			11,125	33.0	−5.73
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blendon and Penhill

Blendon and Penhill (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Adams	2,267	64.8
	Conservative	Nick O'Hare*	2,040	58.3	−4.5
	Conservative	David Leaf*	2,012	57.5	−3.6
	Labour	Emma Francis	1,322	37.8
	Labour	Ahmad Brooke	1,099	31.4
	Labour	Floyd Millen	1,092	31.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bruce Meredeen	402	11.5
	Reform UK	Marc Mason	262	7.5
Turnout			10,496	33.2	−4.49
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Crayford

Crayford (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Melvin Seymour*	1,890	55.5	+5.0
	Conservative	Geraldine Lucia-Hennis*	1,872	55.0	+5.6
	Conservative	Felix Di Netimah	1,717	50.5
	Labour	Abi Johnson	1,628	47.8
	Labour	Anthony Riches	1,554	45.7
	Labour	Nick Hair	1,549	45.5
Turnout			10,210	32.6	−2.54
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Crook Log

Crook Log (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teresa O'Neill*	2,317	59.1	−0.7
	Conservative	Janice Ward Wilson	2,154	54.9
	Conservative	Christopher Taylor	2,077	53.0
	Labour	Liam Davies	1,684	43.0
	Labour	Janet White	1,491	38.0
	Labour	Timothy Nicholls	1,418	36.2
	Liberal Democrats	Zoe Brooks	621	15.8
Turnout			11,762	36.1	−4.79%
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

East Wickham

East Wickham (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steven Hall*	1,967	53.1	−2.2
	Conservative	Caroline Newton*	1,794	48.5	−3.8
	Conservative	Christine Catterall*	1,774	47.9	−3.7
	Labour	Donna Briant	1,733	46.8
	Labour	Claire Hedderman	1,609	43.5
	Labour	Dave Tingle	1,467	39.6
	Liberal Democrats	Sean Ash	506	13.7
	British Democrats	Michael Jones	253	6.8	−2.1
Turnout			11,103	34.5	−2.90%
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Erith

Erith (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Ball	1,512	70.1
	Labour	Nicola Taylor*	1,469	68.1	+5.7
	Conservative	David Li	670	31.1
	Conservative	Masbah Khan	664	30.8
Turnout			4,315	27.9	−4.52
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Falconwood and Welling

Falconwood and Welling (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Betts*	2,047	57.7	+1.1
	Conservative	Andrew Curtois	1,894	53.4
	Conservative	Frazer Brooks	1,795	50.6
	Labour	Sarah Miller	1,494	42.1
	Labour	Jeremy Fosten	1,360	38.3
	Labour	Stephen Perfect	1,273	35.9
	Green	Elisabeth Radbon	538	15.2	+6.2
	Reform UK	Marian Newton	245	6.9
Turnout			10,646	32.0	−7.75%
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Longlands

Longlands (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lisa-Jane Moore*	1,504	57.4	−4.7
	Conservative	Andy Dourmoush*	1,347	51.4	−1.2
	Labour	Teresa Gray	1,029	39.3
	Labour	Anashua Davies	1,014	38.7
	Liberal Democrats	Oliver Brooks	346	13.2
Turnout			5,240	36.6	−4.69%
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Northumberland Heath

Northumberland Heath (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Baljeet Gill	1,361	51.8
	Labour	Wendy Perfect*	1,345	51.2	+6.7
	Conservative	Aaron Newbury	1,157	44.0
	Conservative	Duwayne Brooks	1,146	43.6
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Bargery	248	9.4	+2.2
Turnout			5,257	35.6	−2.76
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Sidcup

Sidcup (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	June Slaughter*	1,828	51.3	−4.2
	Conservative	Cheryl Bacon*	1,818	51.1	−8.3
	Conservative	Richard Diment*	1,815	51.0	−2.0
	Labour	Paul Hinkley	1,211	34.0
	Labour	Tonya Kelsey	1,204	33.8
	Labour	Ben Nottle	1,082	30.4
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Hurren	484	13.6
	Liberal Democrats	Simone Reynolds	472	13.3	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	David Sexton	407	11.4	+5.5
	Independent	Dimitri Shvorob	261	7.3
	SDP	Laurence Williams	100	2.8	+0.9
Turnout			10,682	33.1	−5.83
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Slade Green and Northend

Slade Green and Northend (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stefano Borella*	1,220	62.6	+8.7
	Labour	Anna Day	1,213	62.3
	Conservative	Michael Gillespie	764	39.2
	Conservative	Mandy Brinkhurst	700	35.9
Turnout			3,897	24.3	−5.46
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

St Mary's and St James

St Mary's and St James (2 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kurtis Christoforides	1,591	58.3
	Conservative	Cameron Smith	1,506	55.2
	Labour	Sylvia Malt	939	34.4
	Labour	John Husband	884	32.4
	Liberal Democrats	David McBride	347	12.7
	Reform UK	Linda Purcell	125	4.6
	CPA	Carol Valinejad	64	2.3
Turnout			5,456	35.2	−5.20
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Thamesmead East

Thamesmead East (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Larry Ferguson	1,703	74.6
	Labour	Zainab Asunramu	1,678	73.5
	Labour	Mabel Ogundayo*	1,661	72.8	+6.0
	Conservative	Graham Moon	586	25.7
	Conservative	Natalie Price	558	24.5
	Conservative	Rajinder Tumber	462	20.2
	Liberal Democrats	Doro Oddiri	198	8.7
Turnout			6,846	24.4	−4.95
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

West Heath

West Heath (3 seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Reader*	2,389	59.3	+0.6
	Conservative	John Davey*	2,328	57.8	+1.3
	Conservative	Philip Read*	2,283	56.7	+1.5
	Labour	Sam Marchant	1,730	43.0
	Labour	Jay Dominy	1,678	41.7
	Labour	Victoria Akintomide-Akinwamide	1,669	41.5
Turnout			12,077	36.0	−4.69
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

On 11 October 2022, Cllr John Davey was suspended by the Conservative Party following offensive tweets about former British-Iranian prisoner, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.^[13]