Selection of candidates for 2026 elections to Lambeth Council

The next elections to Lambeth Council will take place in May 2026. At the last local elections (2022) we successfully elected three Liberal Democrats onto the Council, who formed and now serve as the Official Opposition Group on Lambeth Council.

With Labour in power in Westminster, City Hall and Lambeth Council - and following a fantastic General Election for the Liberal Democrats, which elected 72 MPs including three new Lib Dem MPs in South London - we have the opportunity to elect many more Liberal Democrats to Lambeth Council.

Our Lib Dem councillors speak up for local people and challenge the Labour administration, who currently control 58 out of the 63 councillors.

Target seat selections

At this time, we are selecting candidates for 11 wards in the Borough of Lambeth:

• Clapham Common & Abbeville
• Clapham East
• Clapham Park
• Clapham Town
• Oval
• Stockwell East
• Streatham Common & Vale
• Streatham Hill West & Thornton
• Streatham Wells
• Vauxhall
• Waterloo & South Bank

Please note that target seats can be selected for - or removed from this list - at any time between January 2025 and May 2026, at the discretion of the Lambeth Liberal Democrats Executive Committee.

If you are interested in becoming a Lib Dem candidate for the 2026 elections, you need to act now. 

Please find our complete candidate pack in the link below and/or read on for more information on the process. 

THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION IS 24TH NOVEMBER 2024 AND CANDIDATES ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. 

There are two stages that you will have to go through

1. Approval

The approval process determines whether someone is suitable to be a Lib Dem candidate in Lambeth. No one is at this stage picked to stand in a particular part of the Borough (or ‘ward’ as they are formally known). The approval process consists of filling in the application form and consent to background checks; as well as a half hour interview with a panel.

Anyone wanting to be a candidate in a target ward for 2026 must undertake the approval process: this includes sitting Liberal Democrat Councillors. We will accept applications and hold rolling approval panels from today until 24th November 2024. You are encouraged to submit your application as soon as possible.

Note that any candidates who are approved are also eligible to be candidates in any local council by-elections prior to May 2026. This approval process does not constitute approval for council elections outside Lambeth, nor approval to submit nominations for parliamentary selections.

2. Selection

Anyone who has been ‘approved’ to be a Lib Dem candidate for Lambeth local elections by the borough party may put themselves forward to be a candidate in a specific ward. A member may only apply to one ward.

Prospective candidates will be expected to provide a short (150 - 200 words) statement/pitch, which will be made available online; and to participate in an online meeting (this will be an opportunity for ward members to meet the candidates before making their selection). These meetings will take place in December 2024 and January 2025. 

Following the conclusion of the ward meeting, voting will be open to all members of the ward by way of an e-ballot. Members will have 14 days to cast their vote using the single transferable vote system and they will have the option to re-open nominations (RON). 

The results of candidate selections will be announced following the close of polls. 

Filling our slate

In the event that, following the completion of ward selection meetings in February 2026, we do not have a full slate of candidates for our target seats, we will invite approved candidates who have not been selected to stand to express interest in one or more wards in which a candidate slate is not yet full. The Executive Committee will match candidates to seats on this basis, after which candidates will be informed of the ward in which they are invited to stand. The Executive Committee may not overturn any decisions made by members in ward selections. Candidates may decline to take up their candidacy and, in the event of any open seats remaining, the Executive Committee will determine a process by which to fill them.

Thank you for your interest in representing the Liberal Democrats in our community.