Local elections profile: Greenwich

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

Where is it? The Royal Borough of Greenwich is located in south-east London, on the south bank of the River Thames. It is bordered by Lewisham, Bromley and Bexley.

What's it like? Greenwich is famous for its naval and military connections and its green spaces. The wider borough contains a mixture of different types of suburban housing.

Neighbourhoods: The borough comprises the areas and historic towns of Greenwich, Charlton, Woolwich, Plumstead, West Thamesmead, Shooters Hill, Kidbrooke, Eltham, South End and Abbey Wood.

Places of interest: Greenwich Park, including the Royal Greenwich Observatory, the National Maritime Museum, and the Old Royal Naval College. Greenwich Pier has the tea clipper Cutty Sark.

Pub quiz fact: The UK's first McDonald's restaurant was opened on Powis Street in Woolwich in November 1974.

Population (2024 estimate): 289,100 people - of those 62.5% identify as white, 11.7% as Asian, 19.1% as black, 4.8% as mixed race and 1.9% as another ethnic group, according to the 2021 Census.

Average property price: According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average house price in Greenwich was £478,000.

Average monthly rent: The ONS reported private rents rose to an average of £1,943 in February 2026.

Transport:TfL says Greenwich has oneTube station, two Elizabeth line stations, four DLR stations, about 715 bus stops, one bus station and one TfL pier. There are also around 20 railway stations in the borough.

More information about Greenwich can be found here.

Local history: Greenwich was recorded as Grenewic in the year 964, and it appears as Grenviz in Domesday Book (1086). Woolwich was written as Uuluuich in 918 and Hulviz in 1086.

Greenwich was a fishing village as well as a farming settlement.

It has historic associations with the Tudor dynasty. Three monarchs were born in Palace of Placentia, also known as Greenwich Palace - Henry VIII and his daughters Mary I and Elizabeth I.

In 1884 the meridian (the line running north to south) through Greenwich Observatory was chosen as the international meridian from which longitude is calculated. It divides the eastern and western hemispheres and serves as the reference point for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

What is the borough's electoral history? After a brief spell of Tory control, Greenwich has been held by the Labour party since 1971 and it has been seen as safe for the party.

What happened in 2022? The turnout was 33.4% and there was a small swing from the Conservatives to Labour.

Labour: 52 seats (+10)

Conservatives 3 seats (-6)

Boundary changes increased the number of seats from 51 to 55.

Since the election, the Greens won a seat in a by-election and another through a defection from an independent who was formerly Labour.

Two other Labour councillors now sit as independents and the Tories won a by-election from Labour.

Professor Tony Travers, of the London School of Economics, said Greenwich, where Labour are currently strongly in control, is one of the boroughs where the Greens are hoping to do well - but perhaps not as well as elsewhere.

It looks as if Greenwich will be a hold for Labour but with a reduced majority.

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