The Bexley Council election will take place on Thursday, 5 May, alongside local elections across London and the United Kingdom.
All 45 members of Bexley Council will be elected, with the Conservative Party maintaining its longstanding control of the council in the last election in 2018.
The Tories won 34 out of the 45 seats with the Labour Party forming the council opposition with the remaining 11 seats.
Historically Bexley has generally been controlled by the Conservatives except for elections in 1964, 1971 and 2002 which resulted in Labour councils, and the 1994 council election which resulted in no overall control.
However, with the national picture looking gloomy for the Conservatives in the wake of Partygate and a slew of other high-profile scandals, Bexley is one area Labour will be looking to benefit.
The leader of the council is the Teresa O’Neill, who has pledged to use the 2022/23 budget to increase funding for key services such as waste collections and street cleaning, maintaining parks, completing the building of two new libraries, increasing the amount of affordable housing across the borough and further flood prevention measures.
The leader of the Labour Party in Bexley is Councillor Stefano Borella.
He has pledged to use the 2022/23 budget to address the housing crisis, protect parks and open spaces, support the police and be tough on crime, safeguard education, children and young people, promote road safety, keep the borough tidy all year round and treat older citizens with dignity and respect.
One of the three Labour councillors for Thamesmead East, Danny Hackett, resigned from his party in 2019 to sit as an independent councillor, blaming the party’s leadership for “a culture of bullying and toxicity”.
In the same year, Hackett denied allegations against him from several women who had accused him of sexual misconduct and harassment.
Bexley, as with all other London borough councils, elects all of its councillors at once every four years, with the previous election having taken place in 2018.
The election will take place by multi-member first-past-the-post voting, with each ward being represented by two or three councillors.
Electors will have as many votes as there are councillors to be elected in their ward, with the top two or three being elected.
To find out where your polling station click here.
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