Local elections profile: Lewisham

Ahead of the local elections on Thursday 7 May, we have produced short guides to London's 32 boroughs.

Where is it? The London Borough of Lewisham is in south-east London and is bordered by Southwark, Bromley, Greenwich and the River Thames.

What's it like? Lewisham is a mix of urban areas and leafy conservation hubs, with good transport links, busy markets and a growing arts scene. A 15-year transformation plan is under way in Lewisham town centre, introducing new homes, shops, and community facilities.

Neighbourhoods: Blackheath, Deptford, Brockley,Ladywell, Forest Hill, Sydenham, Catford, New Cross, Lewisham and Hither Green.

Places of interest: Horniman Museum and Gardens, Beckenham Place Park, Rivoli Ballroom, Brockley Market, Deptford Market Yard, Hilly Fields, Broadway Theatre, the Catford Cat sculpture and the Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art.

Pub quiz fact: Lewisham has the largest purpose-built police station in Europe - it has one of the Met Police's largest custody suites, stables for horses, and a multi-storey car park.

Population(2024 estimate): 301,255.

Demographics: According to the 2021 census, 51.5% of residents identify as white, 26.8% as black, 9% as Asian, 8% as mixed race and 4% as another ethnic group.

Average property price: According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average house price in Lewisham in December 2025 was £499,000.

Average monthly rent: The ONS reported that the average monthly rent in January 2026 in Lewisham was £1,806.

Council tax: Band D council tax in the borough for 20206/27 is £2,237.

Transport:TfL reports there are eight London Overground stations, two DLR stations and around 620 bus stops in Lewisham. There are also more than a dozen railway stations in the borough.

More information about Lewisham can be found here.

Local history: Lewisham began as a Saxon village named Levesham along the River Ravensbourne, that was later held by the Abbey of Ghent in the Middle Ages, known for its watermills and leather and steel production.

Historically part of Kent, the area shifted from rural estates to suburban housing and increasing industrialisation after the railways arrived in 1849.

In 1900, the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham was created, which included Lee and parts of Sydenham, Forest Hill and Catford.

The area was heavily bombed during World War Two and post-war saw the arrival of new citizens from the Commonwealth and large-scale housing developments such as the Pepys Estate.

The current London Borough of Lewisham was created in 1965, with the merger of the metropolitan boroughs of Lewisham and Deptford.

What is the electoral history of the borough? Lewisham has been a Labour-controlled borough for most of its history, with the Tories in charge from 1968 to 1971 and a period of no overall control from 2006 to 2010, when the Lib Dems won 17 seats and the Greens won six. It has been a one party council since 2018.

Labour has also held the post of directly elected mayor of Lewisham since it was created in 2002.

What happened in 2022? The turnout was 33.5% and there was a 2% swing from Labour to the Greens. All seats on the council were won by Labour.

Labour: 54 seats (no change)

Since the election, three councillors have defected from Labour to the Greens and another was suspended by Labour and later joined the Greens, so the Greens now have four councillors.

There will also be an election for the mayor of Lewisham on 7 May.

The borough's directly-elected mayor has significant powers over local services such as housing, including local regeneration schemes and affordable housing targets, planning and waste collection.

The mayor is the political leader of the council and they appoint a cabinet made up of elected councillors who are given specific portfolios such as finance, community safety and children's services.

This is different from the mayor of London, currently Sir Sadiq Khan who was elected in 2024. The mayor of London has responsibility for police, fire and rescue, Transport for London and strategic matters that affect all 32 London boroughs.

Professor Tony Travers, of the London School of Economics, said Lewisham used to be a Conservative/Labour marginal borough, now it is pretty strongly Labour-controlled.

But it's another borough like Hackney where the Greens have real hopes and they've been campaigning hard, so it's hard to see Labour controlling anything like the number of seats they have now.

They will probably remain the biggest party but with significant Green incursions.

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