Local elections profile: Southwark

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 Southwark is in south and south-east London and is bordered by Lambeth to the west, Lewisham to the east, and Bromley and Croydon to the south.

Tower Hamlets is located across the river to the north-east and the City of London is north of the borough, across the River Thames.

What's it like? Southwark has both bustling attractions busy with tourists and residential neighbourhoods. The borough has the highest number of social homes in London, with the local authority managing more than 37,000 properties.

Neighbourhoods: The borough includes the neighbourhoods of Bermondsey, Peckham, Elephant and Castle, Camberwell and Dulwich.

Places of interest: Southwark is home to Tower Bridge, the Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, Southwark Cathedral, the Shard, and Borough Market.

Pub quiz fact: London's first pie and mash shop, or pie and eel house as it was known, was recorded in 1844 at 101 Union Street, in Southwark.

Population: Southwark's population was an estimated 314,786 people in 2024, according to ONS data.

Demographics: According to the 2021 census, 51.4% identify as white, 25.5% as black, 9.9% as Asian, 7.2% as mixed race and 2.4% as another ethnic group.

Average property price: According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average house price in Southwark in December 2025 was £589,636.

Average monthly rent: The ONS reported that the average monthly rent in January 2026 in Southwark was £2,387.

Council tax: Band D council tax in the borough for 2026/27 is £1,456.75.

Transport: Southwark has six Tube stations, six Overground stations, and about 620 bus stops. There are also 11 stations that serve National Rail trains including London Bridge.

Local history: Between the 14th and 16th centuries, Southwark lay beyond the City of London's control and was a hub for banned activities including bear baiting and prostitution.

The borough was also home to numerous playhouses including Shakespeare's Globe and was notorious for its brothels, licensed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester.

In the 19th Century it was notorious for its slum-like housing and deep levels of poverty.

In 1900, the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark was formed, bringing the industrial, heavily populated area formally into London.

Destruction caused by World War Two and subsequent redevelopment schemes changed the borough's character, and in 1965 the former metropolitan boroughs, Bermondsey, Camberwell and Southwark were merged to form modern-day Southwark.

What is the borough's electoral history? Southwark was a reliably Labour borough from its creation in 1965, until 2002 when the Lib Dems increased its number of councillors to push the council to no overall control.

Labour took back control of the council in 2010 and has since increased its number of councillors at each election.

What happened in 2022? The turnout was 34% and there was a 0.8% swing from the Lib Dems to Labour.

Labour: 52 seats (+3)

Lib Dem: 11 seats (-3)

Since the election four Labour councillors have defected to the Greens and three former Labour councillors sit as independents.

Professor Tony Travers, of the London School of Economics, said Southwark was strongly Labour-controlled but there's a powerful Liberal Democrat presence in the north of the borough, which the Lib Dems will be hoping to push south a bit.

The Greens will also be hoping to win in the southern part of the borough.

Southwark's one of a number of boroughs which could well go to no overall control, might not, but if it did it would probably be with Labour as the biggest party.

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