Local elections were held in London on 12 May 1949.
Electoral arrangements The County of London, outside of the City of London, was divided into 28 metropolitan boroughs. Each borough was divided into a number of multi-member electoral wards.
The elections were due to take place in November 1948. However, the normal month of this and future borough council elections was changed to the following May by the Representation of the People Act 1948. For councillors elected in 1949, terms were extended to four years. This was done so future triennial elections to the metropolitan borough councils and the London County Council would not take place in the same years.
Ward boundaries were changed in Battersea, Chelsea, Hammersmith (36 councillors increased to 39), Lewisham (53 to 55), Shoreditch (42 reduced to 33) and Wandsworth. Total councillors were reduced by 4 from 1,377 to 1,373.
Results The Conservatives regained control of six councils, Holborn, Lewisham, Paddington, Stoke Newington, St Pancras and Wandsworth, that they had lost at the previous election.
The results for each borough were as follows:
Borough Previous control New control Labour Conservative Communist Ind. Labour Total Details Battersea 34 21 55 Bermondsey 54 54 Details Bethnal Green 30 30 Camberwell 39 21 60 Chelsea 4 32 36 Deptford 29 7 36 Finsbury 37 16 3 56 Fulham 21 19 40 Greenwich 21 9 30 Hackney 38 8 2 48 Hammersmith 27 12 39 Hampstead 2 40 42 Holborn 1 41 42 Islington 48 12 60 Kensington 12 48 60 Lambeth 41 19 60 Lewisham 11 44 55 Paddington 20 40 60 Poplar 42 42 Shoreditch 33 33 Southwark 60 60 Details Stepney 50 9 1 60 St Marylebone 9 51 60 Stoke Newington 7 23 30 St Pancras 26 34 60 Wandsworth 10 50 60 Westminster 60 60 Woolwich 36 9 45 Total 742 616 11 4 1,373
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