{"id":925124,"date":"2026-04-28T23:53:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T23:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/925124\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T23:53:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T23:53:26","slug":"kingston-upon-thames-council-election-2026-all-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/925124\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingston-Upon-Thames council election 2026: All you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 council and mayoral elections will soon be here, and voters in Kingston upon Thames will be taking to the polls on 7 May.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But who are the contenders and what are the main issues? Here is our guide to all you need to know.<\/p>\n

Where is Kingston upon Thames<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Kingston upon Thames is located in the south west of London on the banks of the River Thames.<\/p>\n

It borders Richmond, Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton and is about 10\u201312 miles from Central London.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

The 2022 election saw the Liberal Democrats hold control with 41 seats, five more than the previous election.<\/p>\n

The Conservatives won three seats, six fewer than the last election. The turnout was 46%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Liberal Democrats 41<\/strong> (+5)<\/p>\n

Conservative 3<\/strong> (-6)<\/p>\n

Kingston Independent Residents Group 1<\/strong> (+1)<\/p>\n

Since the election there have been a number of defections and the Kingston Independent Resident group now has three councillors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lib Dems first took control of the council in 1994, but it has swung between them and the Conservatives since 2002.<\/p>\n

The Lib Dems have run the council since 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"2022 council make-up<\/p>\n

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

Key issues facing Kingston\u2019s voters include traffic management and council tax.<\/p>\n

Council tax rose by the maximum 4.99% up to \u00a32.608.12 for the average band D property, making Kingston the London borough with the highest council tax.<\/p>\n

Despite this, residents will be faced with more tax hikes in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Other issues include the planning application for the Grade\u00a0II* Listed Market House at the centre of Kingston\u2019s Old Town.<\/p>\n

The application covers refurbishing the stalls and ensuring the long-term success of the market.<\/p>\n

The market sits in the historic Old Town conservation area and serves as a heart of the community.<\/p>\n

Residents are campaigning to change the current poor seating, lack of greenery and limited step free access.<\/p>\n

Kingston is also affected by the issues that other boroughs are struggling with due to the cost of living.<\/p>\n

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

Polling suggests is likely the Liberal Democrats will hold this seat.<\/p>\n

However the Greens may be optimistic about snatching a couple of wards due to their increased support in the polls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A full list of candidates standing in Kingston\u2019s council elections can be found on the Who Can I Vote For website.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interesting facts about Kingston<\/strong><\/p>\n

Population size:<\/strong> Over 170,000.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/strong>: In the 2021 census, it was found that the population identify as 68-79% White, 10\u201320% Asian\/Asian British including significant South Korean and Sri Lankan Tamil populations, 5% mixed, and 3% Black.<\/p>\n

Housing prices: <\/strong>Typical home prices range around\u00a0\u00a3582,000\u2013\u00a3600,000,\u00a0according to data from the Office for National Statistics.<\/p>\n

Unemployment:<\/strong> In 2024 the unemployment rate for over-16s was 4.6% ,according to ONS data \u2013 above the national average of 3.4%.<\/p>\n

Place of interest<\/strong>: Clatten Bridge, which goes over Hogsmill River in the centre of the borough, is believed to be the oldest surviving bridge in London.<\/p>\n

Feature image: Free to use from Harry Grout via Unsplash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 council and mayoral elections will soon be here, and voters in Kingston upon Thames will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,14235,393,4884,9537,33721,257,16,15],"class_list":["post-925124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-election","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-kingston","tag-local-election","tag-london","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116485031089386669","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925124","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=925124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}