{"id":924257,"date":"2026-04-28T14:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/924257\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T14:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T14:45:14","slug":"hammersmith-and-fulham-election-2026-everything-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/924257\/","title":{"rendered":"Hammersmith and Fulham election 2026: Everything you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the local elections fast approaching, Hammersmith and Fulham residents are deciding who will earn their vote on 7 May.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But who is up for election and what are the key issues on voters\u2019 minds?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Where is Hammersmith and Fulham?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hammersmith and Fulham is in West London, running along the north bank of the River Thames.<\/p>\n

It borders Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth, Richmond Upon Thames, Hounslow, Ealing, and Brent.<\/p>\n

What happened in the last election?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ward boundary changes meant four additional seats were available in the 2022 election compared to previous years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, this had little impact on the overall balance of power, as Labour retained a comfortable majority and the Conservatives were once again the only other party to secure seats.<\/p>\n

Labour: 40 <\/strong>(+5)
Conservative: 10<\/strong> (-1)
Note \u2013 The number of seats increased from 46 to 50 due to boundary changes.<\/p>\n

Since 2022, the make-up of the council has changed slightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cllr David Morton (Avonmore) quit Labour to become independent in July 2023, shortly after the party suspended him for posting alleged \u201canti-Semitic and racist\u201d content online.<\/p>\n

He will be running as an independent candidate in the upcoming election.<\/p>\n

Two further Labour councillors \u2013 Cllr Trey Campbell-Simon (Walham Green) and Cllr Liz Collins (Ravenscourt) \u2013 defected to the Greens in July 2025, over worries of a rightward shift in the party and concerns of a toxic culture among the borough\u2019s Labour contingent.<\/p>\n

Neither Campbell-Simon nor Collins will be standing at this year\u2019s election, with both citing ill health as the reason for their resignation.<\/p>\n

A seat in Hammersmith Broadway ward has been vacant since November, when former Hammersmith and Fulham Mayor, Cllr Patricia Quigley, stepped down after over seven years as a councillor.<\/p>\n

Pre-election council make-up<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the local issues?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tax and traffic will be top of Hammersmith and Fulham voters\u2019 minds on 7 May.<\/p>\n

This April, council tax was raised by the maximum 4.99% \u2013 up to \u00a31,519 for the average Band D property.<\/p>\n

Even with this increase, the borough has the third-lowest council tax in the city.<\/p>\n

Yet residents may need to brace themselves for further tax hikes in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hammersmith and Fulham was one of six boroughs where Labour lifted the cap on council tax rises, following a reduction in its share of government funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a result, the council will be allowed to raise rates by more than 5% over the next two years \u2013 without sign off from local voters.<\/p>\n

The reduction in central funding is a blow to local projects, including the ongoing repair of Hammersmith Bridge<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Renovation work to the Grade II* Listed bridge has been underway since 2019.<\/p>\n

Although it has re-opened for cyclists and pedestrians, the bridge remains closed for cars.<\/p>\n

Frustration is mounting among local residents and Fleur Anderson, Labour MP for Putney, described the situation as a \u201cnational disgrace\u201d.<\/p>\n

The total cost to fully restore the bridge is an estimated \u00a3250million, which is split between the council, the Department for Transport, and Transport for London.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the council has continued efforts to reduce air pollution through a trial Clean Air Neighbourhood scheme in South Fulham.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Who are the ones to watch?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historically, Hammersmith and Fulham has been a marginal Labour-Conservative borough.<\/p>\n

However, Labour has controlled the council since 2014 and won comfortable majorities at the previous two elections.<\/p>\n

Polling indicates much of the same can be expected this time around.<\/p>\n

In spite of the defections to the Greens and growing support for the party elsewhere in the capital, Labour looks likely to retain power.<\/p>\n

A full list of candidates can be found on the Hammersmith and Fulham website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interesting Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Population size: <\/strong>188,700<\/p>\n

Demographics: <\/strong>In the 2021 census, 63.2% of the population identified as white, 12.3% as black, 10.5% as Asian and 6.7% as mixed. 7.3% identified with other ethnic groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

House prices: <\/strong>According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average house price in the borough was \u00a3730,000 in December 2025, and the average monthly rent in January 2026 was \u00a32,701.<\/p>\n

Unemployment: <\/strong>According ONS data from 2024, the unemployment rate in Hammersmith and Fulham is around 4.8% \u2013 above the national average of 3.4%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Places of interest: <\/strong>Three Premier League and EFL clubs are based in Hammersmith and Fulham \u2013 Chelsea, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers \u2013 more than any other London borough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The borough is also home to the Queens Club Championship tennis, the Hammersmith Apollo, Westfield London and Wormwood Scrubs.<\/p>\n

Featured image: Hammersmith Bridge\u00a0<\/strong>by\u00a0Wayland Smith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the local elections fast approaching, Hammersmith and Fulham residents are deciding who will earn their vote on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":924258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,932,393,4884,132459,55684,250917,8414,10751,257,16,15],"class_list":["post-924257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-council-tax","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-hammersmith-fulham","tag-hammersmith-fulham-council","tag-hammersmith-bridge","tag-labour","tag-local-elections","tag-london","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116482875726133934","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/924258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}