London local elections 2026: Who will win Redbridge?
A rise in support of Nigel Farage’s Reform will be tested in the north of a borough dominated elsewhere by Labour which faces its own fight from the left. Results will be closely watched by Wes Streeting, whose parliamentary constituency is on the patch.
Redbridge is a complex constituency. Labour is battling the Greens to its left in the south of the borough, while it seeks to see off the Conservatives in the north.
The borough sits at the border of Essex in north-east London, covering Ilford, Wanstead and Woodford, and has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the UK.
Redbridge has historically been under Tory control, and Kemi Badenoch’s party still has an MP in the area – Conservative grandee and former leader Ian Duncan-Smith in Chingford and Woodford Green, in the north of the borough.
Voters will find out how parties fare when results are expected to come in at 5pm on Friday 8th May.
Rare Tory gains possible in Rebridge
Since first losing overall control of the borough council in 2014, the Tories have held on in Redbridge’s northern wards.
The Conservatives still hold Monkhams and Fairlop wards, and have a seat in Bridge – all in Redbridge’s north-west corner.
In this leafier, more rural area of the borough, the Tories have some chance of either holding their seats or taking advantage of the bitterness towards Labour held by large parts of the electorate.
But it would be wrong to rule out Reform UK’s chances here, as there has been a drip-drip of defections towards Nigel Farage’s party in the borough.
Former Tory councillor Robin Turbefield defected to Reform way back in 2021 – before it was cool – and was followed up more recently by London Assembly member Keith Prince, who swapped dark for light blue in October last year.
Further south, though, Redbridge is a sea of red. But Labour’s commanding 58 seats in the borough have dwindled to 54 since the 2022 elections, with the area now counting four independent councillors.
Labour under pressure from Left in Ilford
The Greens could pinch a few wards from Labour in Redbridge’s south, while Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party has the borough on its list of target seats.
Pressure from the left in Redbridge’s south is nothing new. And it could prove highly significant in the next national parliamentary elections, affecting one of the biggest names in Labour.
Wes Streeting is MP for Ilford North. The health secretary is widely seen as a potential future Labour leader. His Westminster seat looks vulnerable to an insurgency from Zack Polanski’s re-energised Greens. Streeting’s share of the vote crashed by 20 per cent at the last election, with both the Greens and Reform making gains.
Redbridge’s local elections, with a previously dominant Labour squeezed on both sides, could be an omen for what lies ahead for one of the party’s biggest beasts.
Morning Wire is previewing local election votes taking place in every London borough. Click here for a full overview of May 7.