Proportionality and London Boroughs
Below I list in which Boroughs the five main parties are underrepresented because of the FPTP-esque plurality-at-large electoral system used.
On more than third of councils (12 out of 32), a single party holds more than four fifths of the seats.
83% of Sutton councillors are Lib Dems
85% of Bromley councillors are Conservative
More than 80% of councillors in each of Hounslow, Haringey, Greenwich, Hackney and Brent are Labour, as are 94% of Lambeth councillors, 98% of Islington councillors and Lewisham councillors and 100% of Barking & Dagenham councillors and Newham councillors
How, I hear you ask, are such tiny (and in two instances non-existent) opposition groups supposed to hold local politicians to account? Well indeed.
Conservatives are underrepresented by—
13 seats in Newham
7 seats in Brent
6 seats in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark
5 seats in Barking & Dagenham, Ealing, Haringey and Islington
4 seats in Hounslow and Sutton
3 seats in Hackney
1 seat in Greenwich
And overrepresented in 17 Boroughs
Labour are underrepresented by—
7 seats in Sutton and Richmond-upon-Thames
6 seats in Havering
5 seats in Kingston upon Thames
4 seats in Westminster and Bromley
2 seats in Kensington & Chelsea
1 seat in Bexley
And overrepresented in 23 Boroughs
Liberal Democrats are underrepresented by—
9 seats in Brent
8 seats in Lambeth
7 seats in Camden, Waltham Forest and Islington
5 seats in Bromley and Merton
4 seats in Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Wandsworth, Hammersmith & Fulham, Barnet, Redbridge, Harrow, Croydon, Hounslow and Lewisham
3 seats in Richmond-upon-Thames, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich
2 seats in Bexley, Hillingdon, Enfield, Hackney, Ealing, Haringey, Newham and Barking & Dagenham
1 seat in Havering
And overrepresented in 3 Boroughs
Greens are underrepresented by—
11 seats in Hackney
9 seats in Westminster and Southwark
8 seats in Lambeth, Islington, Wandsworth, Richmond-upon-Thames and Haringey
7 seats in Brent, Camden, Waltham Forest, Bromley, Barnet, Lewisham, Greenwich and Enfield
6 seats in Croydon, Hounslow and Ealing
5 seats in Hillingdon and Kingston-upon-Thames
4 seats in Tower Hamlets
3 seats in Merton, Hammersmith & Fulham and Redbridge
2 seats in Kensington & Chelsea, Harrow, Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Sutton
1 seat in Bexley
UKIP are underrepresented by—
14 seats in Barking & Dagenham
12 seats in Hillingdon and Bexley
11 seats in Croydon and Sutton
10 seats in Bromley
8 seats in Greenwich and Havering
7 seats in Enfield and Hounslow
6 seats in Waltham Forest, Kingston-upon-Thames and Merton
4 seats in Southwark, Wandsworth, Richmond-upon-Thames, Barnet, Lewisham, Ealing and Redbridge
3 seats in Lambeth, Harrow and Newham
2 seats in Westminster, Haringey, Camden, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith & Fulham
1 seat in Islington, Brent and Kensington & Chelsea
(I’ve used a very simplistic method - proportion-of-the-vote multiplied by number-of-council-seats rounded to the nearest interger.)
