On Thursday, May 7 Londoners will head to the ballot box to vote on who will run their borough. Labour, which controls 21 out of the city’s 32 borough councils, is bracing for potential historic losses across the capital, particularly inner London.

With 44 out of 51 council seats, Labour’s majority in the North London borough of Islington is hefty, and the party is expected to keep control of the local authority. But the insurgent Greens remain Labour’s main rival here and are expecting a strong result, as recent polls suggest the party is closing its gap on the Labour establishment.

Yet all the main parties remain in the running. The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK are fielding candidates in every electoral ward, as minor groups like the Islington Community Independents are also standing in a handful of areas.

Jeremy Corbyn MP’s outfit Your Party is sitting out the race in his Islington constituency and he is throwing his support behind independents in other boroughs.

The various parties have made a series of pledges for how they would run the borough in the event that they win. Though not every group offered a manifesto, here’s a round-up of the principal parties’ promises should they win or keep control of the council.

See our full guide: London elections 2026 – everything you need to know

Conservative Party

The Conservatives did not provide their manifesto pledges in time for publication. However, local party Chairman Nick Brainsby previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) a Tory council would:

• Boost levels of visible policing across the borough

Green Party

The Green Party’s full manifesto can be read online. The local party’s policies include:

Housing

• Extending landlord licensing across the entire borough to all rented properties

• Prioritise Community Land Trusts and brownfield sites to deliver high quality mixed housing developments

• Improving repairs and retrofitting in social housing

Communities

• Auditing the council’s commercial partners and champion local procurement

• Extending community garden and food-growing programmes

• Full divestment from oil and gas companies and those implicated in international aggression and war crimes

Crime

• Advocating for evidence-based strategies to reduce crime while opposing over-policing

Children & education

• Campaigning for funding and investment for more youth clubs, play sessions and family activities

Health

• Improve access to healthy food and promote ‘Planetary Health Diet’

• Campaign for funding for young people’s mental health support

Environment & transport

• Protect parks, trees and green spaces

• Scrap green waste collection charge

Islington Community Independents

Below are some of the key pledges from the Islington Community Independents (ICI). The full list can be read on the group’s website.

Housing

• Requiring all wards to have landlord licensing

• Investing in more regular maintenance and repair of council properties

• Increasing the percentage of social housing required in all new developments

Communities

• Reversing recent changes to council constitution

• Funding and supporting voluntary organisations, law centres and community groups

Children & education

• Ending school exclusions and ‘punitive’ zero tolerance behaviour policies

• Expanding free school meals funding to all pupils in the borough

Health

• Opposing any cuts or closure of departments at the Whittington Hospital

• Campaigning for all mental health day centres in the borough to be run by Islington Council

Environment & transport

• Reviewing existing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods deemed ‘most problematic’

• Expanding cycle infrastructure and bike storage

• Reviewing and extend taxi card schemes to support disabled and elderly residents

Labour Party

The ruling Labour party has set out its five “core missions” for the next four years, including tackling the housing crisis, the cost of living and empowering communities. The full manifesto pledges can be read on the party website.

Housing

• Maintaining 50% genuinely affordable homes in all new developments

• Investing £388 million in existing council housing stock over the next four years

Communities

• Committing £2.7 million per year of funding to launch a new voluntary and community sector grants programme and guarantee existing funding for core VCS grants until 2030

• A new ‘Empowering Residents’ fund to support those wanting to take ownership of underused council-owned spaces

Crime

• Creating a £1.9million ‘Safer Communities’ fund

• Introducing new Public Space Protection Orders to tackle antisocial behaviour hotspots and sexual harassment

• Expanding 24/7 neighbourhood patrols to cover estates and public spaces

Children & education

• Ensuring all Year 7 students have a laptop or tablet for education

• Build a new library at Vorley Road, Archway and consult on modernising our libraries

Health

• Expanding maternity and baby support services in family hubs and children’s centres

• Providing free and low-cost culture and leisure opportunities to support older residents’ health and wellbeing

Environment & transport

• Filling potholes within 72 hours of reporting and investing £12m in road repairs

• Introducing 400 more electric vehicle charging points by 2030

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats, who controlled Islington Council between 1999 and 2006, have not provided a manifesto but provided 10 pledges in a document called Working for Islington. A party spokesperson told the LDRS this will be built on their 2022 manifesto.

Housing

• Empower council tenants to get their homes fixed by allowing them to organise repairs and send council the bill

• Take urgent action to implement new Liberal Democrat-backed laws that would give Islington’s leaseholders a better and fairer deal

Communities

• Set up a taskforce to make best use of empty buildings & building sites across the borough for housing, jobs and community use

Crime

• Crack down on phone, bag and bike thefts, with more mobile police patrols and secure bike parking where needed

Environment & transport

• Installing more pollution sensors on busy roads and outside schools

• Protect greenspaces and drop plans to build on Islington parks

Reform UK

Reform UK is standing candidates in every electoral ward in Islington, but has not released a manifesto. The LDRS contacted the party’s local branch to ask about its pledges for the borough, but at the time of publication had not received a response.

The party’s key national policies include:

• Immediately leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

• Scrapping indefinite leave to remain for immigrants and rescinding existing awards

• Cutting energy bills by ending net zero policies

• Limiting welfare benefits to British citizens

• Rebuilding the UK armed forces

See a full list of Islington candidates, broken down by ward, in our separate dedicated article.

Got a story? Email josef.steen@reachplc or @jslondonldr on X.

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