Local elections profile: Hammersmith and Fulham

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 Hammersmith and Fulham is in west London and is bordered by Kensington and Chelsea, Brent, Ealing, Hounslow and the River Thames.

What's it like? There are an abundance of tree-lined residential roads and the borough is home to some of the capital's best restaurants. It also has thriving riverside communities.

Neighbourhoods: Chelsea Harbour, Fulham, Hammersmith, Parsons Green, Shepherd's Bush, West Kensington and White City.

Places of interest: Fulham Palace, BBC Television Centre, Ravenscourt Park, Olympia, Hammersmith Apollo, Westfield London, Shepherd's Bush Market, Wormwood Scrubs, the Ark building.

Pub quiz fact: Hammersmith and Fulham has three professional football clubs within its boundaries: Chelsea FC, Fulham FC, and Queens Park Rangers FC.

Population (2024 estimate): About 183,200.

Demographics: According to the 2021 census, 63.2% of residents described themselves as white, 12.3% as black, 10.5% as Asian, 6.7% as mixed and 7.3% of residents described themselves as another ethnic group.

Average property price: According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average house price in Hammersmith and Fulham in December 2025 was £730,000.

Average monthly rent: The ONS reported that the average monthly rent in January 2026 was £2,701.

Transport:According to TfL there are 15 Tube stations, three London Overground stations, about 290 bus stops in the borough.

Local history: Hammersmith was originally a chapelry of the parish of Fulham, but became a fully independent parish in 1631.

The first people known to have settled in the area were Neolithic tribes living by the riverside 5,000 years ago. Over the years, the original woodland was replaced by farmland and, near the river, the good soil encouraged the farmers to grow fruit and vegetables.

During the 17th Century and, in particular, the 18th Century, Fulham became a popular retreat for the wealthy and a number of large country villas were built.

The last farm to function in Fulham was Crabtree Farm, which closed at the beginning of the 20th Century.

There is now a Crabtree Estate, where houses line leafy roads and the architecture is protected as a conservation area.

What is the electoral history of the borough? Hammersmith and Fulham has changed between Tory control, Labour control and no overall control six times since its creation in 1965. Labour has had a majority since 2014.

What happened in 2022? The turnout was 33.3% and there was a 3.6% swing from the Conservatives to Labour.

Labour: 40 seats (+5)

Conservative: 10 seats (-1)

Boundary changes had increased the number of seats from 46 to 50.

Since the election, two Labour councillors have defected to the Greens and one councillor elected as Labour now sits as an independent.

Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics said Hammersmith and Fulham used to be a Conservative/Labour marginal borough, but the Labour Party has embedded itself there in recent years.

On the basis of what we can see in other parts of the city and in polling, Labour will probably hold on to Hammersmith and Fulham.

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