Labour success in City of London election sees vote share double in one ward

Labour has retained all five of its seats in the City of London election, including more than doubling its vote share in the Cripplegate ward and polling first and second in the Aldersgate ward.

Labour gained a seat in Cripplegate and held the two seats it won at the last election in 2017. Its candidates received a total of 1,782 votes, more than double the 810 votes the party secured in 2017.

Natasha Lloyd-Owen, a criminal barrister and member of the Labour Society of Lawyers, received 617 votes, coming second overall. She was closely followed by fellow Labour candidate Anne Corbett with 616 votes in third.

Frances Leach, a former adviser to Jeremy Corbyn when he was Labour leader, now working in communications, was also elected in Cripplegate with a total of 549 votes.

Incumbent Labour councillor Helen Fentiman was re-elected in Aldersgate yesterday with 499 votes. She will be joined on the City’s Court of Common Council by Labour’s Stephen Goodman, who received 443 votes.

Labour candidates stood unsuccessfully in the wards of Farringdon Within, Farringdon Without and Portsoken. Labour is the only national political party to contest City Corporation elections.

The City of London has an unusual council set-up dominated by independents. The City has 25 wards, which are represented by 100 Common Councillors and 25 Aldermen.

The Court of Common Council is the City’s primary decision-making assembly. It is non-party political and usually meets every four weeks. Each ward elects between two and ten Common Councillors, depending on the size of the electorate. Elections take place every four years.

Each ward also elects one Alderman. They serve on the Court of Aldermen, which meets eight times a year and is chaired by the Lord Mayor. Aldermen are elected at least every six years on a rolling basis.

The residential population of the City is less than 8,000, but a proportion of the estimated 450,000 people who work there are also allowed to vote for councillors, meaning it has an electorate of almost 19,000.

The election on Thursday was originally scheduled to take place in March 2021 but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Councillor Fentimen previously won in Aldersgate in a council by-election in 2019, receiving 47% of the vote. She retained the seat for Labour following the resignation of councillor Richard Crossan.