The Conservatives retained their 61-year reign in Bromley’s local election today winning 35 seats – down just 1 from the 2022 election.
Despite YouGov polls predictions for Reform UK as the largest party in the South East borough, the party took just six seats, three of these from the Conservatives, in Biggin Hill, Mottingham and St Paul’s Cray.
Yet, the first directly-elected Reform council candidate in the UK and Reform UK Group Leader, Alan Cook, lost his Bromley Common seat to the Tories after holding the seat for less than a year.
Reform candidates were disappointed in their defeats but felt they had put up a good fight in the blue borough, coming in second in many of the long-standing Tory wards.
Gary Stevens, a Reform candidate for Plaistow, said: “London’s a tough one to crack. They’re a well-oiled machine, the Tories in Bromley.”
Although Labour lost four seats – taking them to eight overall – they maintained their position as the key opposition party as the Liberal Democrats won just six – up from five – and local party Chislehurst Matters held onto their three seats.
Shifts in Bromley’s wards were mostly seen in split wards- Biggin Hill, Plaistow and St Paul’s Cray- where independent councillors who had previously quit Conservative or Labour governed alongside their former party.
Though Conservative grip on the borough has been loosening since 2022, when they fell from 50 to 36 seats, the Conservatives were jubilant in their win.
Gareth Bacon, Conservative MP for Orpington and Shadow Minister for London, said: “Here in Bromley, it’s a fantastic, absolutely fantastic result, and it was born out of shoe leather, really.
“They’re under a lot of pressure- a lot of the forecasting, some fairly ignorant reporting, was saying that Reform were going to win here in Bromley, and they, impassively, have not done so.”
Meanwhile, all three councillors for Chislehurst Matters in Chislehurst were re-elected after launching for the 2022 elections, making it clear that for them and their voters this election was local- not national.
Councillor Mark Smith, Chiselhurst Matters, said: “We’re not affiliated with any national party, so we see local politics as very much being about local issues, what happens in your street, in your high street, and in your community.”
Bromley’s Liberal Democrats similarly attested their wins to their service in the community.
Chloe-Jane Ross, Councillor and Liberal Democratic Group Leader, claimed that people were looking towards the Liberal Democrats to be their antidote to Reform.
Labour Councillor for Crystal Palace & Anerley and Deputy Leader, Ruth McGregor, said she was delighted to be re-elected.
She pointed to the increased turnout for this year’s election, noting it was good news for democracy and an increase in Labour’s votership in the ward.
While the Green party was unsuccessful in taking any Bromley seats, the party came in second in Bromley’s Labour wards and remained hopeful about its future, reflecting the party’s broader message.
Seamus Macualay, Co-Chair of the Bromley Green party and candidate for St Mary’s Cray, said: “I think we’ve successfully established ourselves as the main progressive alternative in a number of these wards.
“I think we’ve got from where we are now, a very strong opportunity to make the case for Green counsellors in the next set of elections.”
It was a six-party contest in Bromley, and although the Conservatives fought off a Reform takeover, the results point to a shift that is already underway.
In Bromley, like in the rest of the UK, politics is no longer just a case of two parties.
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