London Conservatives brace for potentially disastrous night as local election counting gets underway

London Conservatives are bracing themselves for a potentially disastrous night as counting gets underway in local elections.

Voters in all 32 London boroughs went to the polls Thursday in the biggest test of Boris Johnson's popularity since the general election.

Labour is hoping to seize control of Barnet as well as the Tory flagship councils of Wandsworth and Westminster.

Sir Keir Starmer's party has enjoyed a commanding lead over the Conservatives in London in recent opinion polls.

But Labour also faces a strong challenge in two boroughs where voters are choosing directly elected mayors - Croydon and Tower Hamlets.

Labour controlled Croydon effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2020 after a series of failed property deals.

Disgraced former mayor Lutfur Rahman is seeking to regain control of Tower Hamlets despite being banned from standing for public office for five years in 2015.

Rahman's victory in 2014 was overturned by an electoral court after he was found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices.

The Liberal Democrats, who control Kingston, Richmond and Sutton, have set their sights on Merton.

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