Labour has lost control of Croydon Council with the authority tipping into no overall control after a lengthy local elections count.
Labour won 34 seats on the council, with the Conservatives close behind on 32 seats. The Green Party won two seats, and the Lberal Democrats one seat.
The result was announced at 7.19pm on Sunday, making Croydon the last council to declare after Thursday’s poll, and comes after voters elected the Conservatives’ Jason Perry as the council’s mayor.
Mr Perry’s success in the mayoral vote means there is currently a vacant seat on the council, with a by-election to take place in due course.
Sunday’s results marked the first time Croydon has had Green councillors and the first time since 2002 that a Liberal Democrat councillor has been elected on the council.
Labour councillor Stuart King said it was a “disappointing” result, with the party losing seven seats on the council compared to the last elections in 2018.
He told MyLondon: “This is a very disappointing result for Labour, the message from the voters here in Croydon is clear they didn’t put their trust in us this time.”
On Saturday, the Conservatives’ Jason Perry welcomed his win of the top job after beating the Labour candidate Val Shawcross to be mayor.
The position holds more power than a traditional council leader because they can approve major plans alone without support from other elected councillors.
He said: “I want to thank every Croydonian who took part in today’s election - however you voted.
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“I’m proud of the campaign we fought, and the fantastic team of Council Candidates that stood with me under the Local Conservative banner.”
The result was a rare spot of good news for the Conservatives in the capital, after the party lost control of Westminster, Wandsworth and Barnet to Labour.
Thursday’s vote was the first to take place since the council was forced to impose a ban on non-essential spending last year after it effectively declared itself bankrupt in November 2020.
The local authority, which was previously under Labour control since 2014, said it was unable to meet its legal obligation to balance its books.
It received a £120million bailout from the Government in 2021. But its budget report this year warned it still faced an unresolved shortfall of £73million, which was being probed by auditors.
