London elections 2022: Liberal-Democrats hold Richmond Upon Thames

The Liberal-Democrats have held Richmond Upon Thames winning 48 seats—nine more than at the last election.

The Green Party won five seats while the Conservatives won just one, a loss of 10 seats compared to 2018.

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Find our coverage leading up to the election results below.

Key Issues

Affordable housing is a key issue for voters, including the level proposed for the Mortlake Brewery site. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan previously refused plans to build more than 1,000 homes on the site in July last year and criticised the development’s perceived lack of affordable housing.

Candidates’ positions on cut-through traffic in Richmond Park, plans for the Twickenham Riverside development, school provision and council tax are also considered key issues for voters, as is the cost of living crisis and how local councils can help.

The Conservatives will be hoping the Partygate scandal and criticism of their party nationally doesn’t affect their vote.

Read more: Follow the Standard’s coverage of the 2022 local elections (ES)

Details

Richmond is currently controlled by the Lib Dems, who won control of the council from the Tories in 2018. They had 39 ward councillors elected as opposed to the Tories’ 11.

The council has swung between the two parties in recent elections. The Tories were in power bertween 2010 and 2018, but the Lib Dems won in 2006.

The leader of the council is the Lib Dems’ Gareth Roberts, who is standing in the Hampton ward.

Three of London’s 13 Green councillors are in Richmond, and the party is putting up six candidates in wards where it feels it has the best chance of winning.

Demographics

Richmond has a population of around 198,000 according to recent estimates. The borough is less ethnically diverse than many parts of London, with the 2011 census showing around 85.5 % of the populatin was white, and 14.2% from ethnic minorities.

13.5% of the population are older people aged 65 and over and 2.1% are aged 85 and over. When compared with London, Richmond has a significantly lower percentage of people aged 20-24 (4.9% in Richmond and 7.7% in London) and 25-29 (6.5% in Richmond compared with 10% in London).