Merton London Borough Council Merton London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Merton in Greater London, England. It is one of the 32 councils that form Greater London. History There were previously a number of local authorities responsible ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

is elected every four years; it has administrative control over the

London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a borough in Southwest London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton ...

. Since the last boundary changes in 2022, 57

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s have been elected from 20

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

History

Establishment

The thirty-two

London boroughs The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at t ...

were established in 1965 by the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

. They are the principal authorities in Greater London and have responsibilities including education, housing, planning, highways, social services, libraries, recreation, waste, environmental health and revenue collection. Some of the powers are shared with the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

, which also manages passenger transport, police and fire.

Political control

Since the foundation of the council, political control of the council has been held by the following parties:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1965 have been:

Local political parties

Longthornton and Tamworth Residents Association

Longthornton and Tamworth Residents Association is a residents association in the Longthornton area, which lies in the triangle between

Pollards Hill Pollards Hill is a small residential district straddling south London boroughs of Croydon and Merton between Mitcham, Norbury and Thornton Heath. The boundary of the two boroughs is a street named Recreation Way. No roads directly cross the Cro ...

, Streatham Vale and Mitcham Eastfields. Between 1964 and 1994, LTRA contested elections in Merton, initially in the Mitcham Central ward. After the borough's wards were redrawn in 1978 and the Mitcham Central ward abolished, the LTRA contested elections in the Longthornton ward. LTRA won between three and four seats in the elections between 1964 and 1978. At the 1982 election, it was defeated by the Conservatives, who took all three seats in Longthornton. It subsequently regained a seat at a by-election in March 1984 and retook all three seats in the 1986 election. At the 1994 election, LTRA lost two seats to Labour. This was the last election that was contested by LTRA. By the time of the 1998 election, its last councillor no longer sat for the party.

Merton Park Ward Residents Association

Merton Park Ward Residents Association is a residents association in the

Merton Park Merton Park is a suburb in the London Borough of Merton. It is situated between Colliers Wood, Morden, South Wimbledon and Raynes Park. It is 11 miles (11.7 km) southwest of Charing Cross. The area is part of the historic parish of Merton i ...

ward. The MPWRA has two councillors on Merton London Borough Council, and for this purpose is registered as the political party Merton Park Ward Independent Residents. The MPWRA was formed in 1989 in order to contest a by-election that October in the Merton Park ward, caused by the resignation of a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

councillor. The MPWRA opposed the proposed extension of the

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

relief road across a corner of the Merton Park Conservation Area, which required the demolition of several Victorian houses. At the by-election, Bridget Smith was elected for the MPWRA; this

hung Hung may refer to: People * Hung (surname), various Chinese surnames * Hùng king, a king of Vietnam People with the given name Hung include: * Hung Huynh, Vietnamese-American chef, winner of the third season of the television show ''Top Chef'' ...

the council. In the following year's

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

, the MPWRA gained all three council seats of the Merton Park ward, becoming the third-largest party on the council. The A24 relief road was not extended. The MPWRA held every seat in the ward in all subsequent elections, although the number of seats for the ward was reduced to two ahead of the 2022 elections. After the 2010 elections, the MPWRA provided support for a minority Labour administration until Labour regained a majority at the 2014 elections. Following seat gains for the Liberal Democrats on other wards at the 2018 elections, the MPWRA became the fourth-largest party on the council. Since its founding, the MPWRA has campaigned for the redevelopment of Nelson Hospital and the regeneration of

Morden Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester Pa ...

's town centre. The MPWRA publishes a quarterly local publication known as Forum.

Borough result maps

File:Merton London UK local election 2002 map.svg, 2002 results map File:Merton London UK local election 2006 map.svg, 2006 results map File:Merton London UK local election 2010 map.svg, 2010 results map File:Merton London UK local election 2014 map.svg, 2014 results map File:Merton London UK local election 2018 map.svg, 2018 results map

List of council elections

1964 Merton London Borough Council election The 1964 Merton Council election took place on 7 May 1964 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. The whole council was up for election and the council went into no overall control. Background These elections were th ...

* 1968 Merton London Borough Council election * 1971 Merton London Borough Council election * 1974 Merton London Borough Council election * 1978 Merton London Borough Council election (boundary changes increased the number of seats by three) * 1982 Merton London Borough Council election *

1986 Merton London Borough Council election Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 8 May 1986 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and Scotland. The whole council was up for ...

1990 Merton London Borough Council election Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 3 May 1990 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and Scotland. The whole council was up for ...

1994 Merton London Borough Council election Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 5 May 1994 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England. The whole council was up for election. As ...

(boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same) *

1998 Merton London Borough Council election Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 7 May 1998 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in London, England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and a referendum on the Greater London Autho ...

(boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same) *

2002 Merton London Borough Council election Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 2 May 2002. This was on the same day as other local elections in England. These elections were held under new ward boundaries, which increased the number of councillors to sixty from fifty ...

(boundary changes increased the number of seats by three) *

2006 Merton London Borough Council election Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 4 May 2006. This was on the same day as other local elections in England. The Conservatives became the largest party in Merton, forming a minority administration. The incumbent Labour maj ...

2010 Merton London Borough Council election Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 6 May 2010. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and a national general election. Following the elections, a Labour minority administration was formed with the su ...

* 2014 Merton London Borough Council election *

2018 Merton London Borough Council election Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 3 May 2018 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England. Campaign In February 2018, Peter Walker, a former ...

* 2022 Merton London Borough Council election (boundary changes reduced the number of seats by three)

By-election results

1964-1968

There were no by-elections.

1968-1971

1971-1974

1974-1978

1978-1982

The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. George Watt. The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. William A. Hillhouse.

1982-1986

The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Peter J. Glasspool. The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. Michael L. Page. The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Nancy Bone. The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Robert A. Dilley.

1986-1990

The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. James B. Garwood. The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. David Mason. The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. David T. Williams. The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Kathryn E. Nicholls. The result meant that the Conservatives lost their one-seat majority on the council, placing the council under no overall control until the next election. This was the first election ever contested by the

Merton Park Ward Residents Association Merton London Borough Council in London, England is elected every four years; it has administrative control over the London Borough of Merton. Since the last boundary changes in 2022, 57 councillors have been elected from 20 wards. History E ...

, which had run in opposition to the council's proposed extension of the

relief road.

1990-1994

The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Michael J. G. Menhinick.

1994-1998

The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. David R. Proctor. The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. Arthur M. Kennedy.

1998-2002

The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Terence J. Daniels. The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr.

Jennifer Willott Jennifer Nancy Willott OBE (born 29 May 1974) is a British politician. She was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Cardiff Central from 2005 to 2015. Willott became a junior minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and ...

2002-2006

The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Tony Giles. The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Leslie D. Mutch.

2006-2010

There were no by-elections.

2010-2014

The by-election was called following the resignation of Cllr. Tariq M. Ahmad. The by-election was called following the death of Cllr. Gam Gurung.

2014-2018

The by-election was triggered by the death of Cllr. Maxi Martin of the Labour Party. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Imran Uddin of the Labour Party.

2018-2022

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Mark Kenny of the Labour Party. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Cllr. Kelly Braund of the Labour Party.

References

Notes References
By-election results

External links

Merton Council
{{Greater London elections *