Local elections profile: Richmond upon Thames

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 Richmond upon Thames is in south-west London and is bordered by five London boroughs: Hounslow, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth, Kingston upon Thames, and Merton.

It is also bordered by the Surrey borough of Elmbridge.

What's it like? Richmond upon Thames is a leafy residential borough with protected views of London's skyline. It has extensive parklands and waterways, with 57% of the borough being open space.

Neighbourhoods: The borough includes Barnes, East Sheen, Hampton, Kew, Mortlake, Richmond, Teddington and Twickenham.

Places of interest: Richmond upon Thames is home to the Unesco-listed Kew Gardens, Hampton Court Palace, Twickenham Stadium and Richmond Park, which has free-roaming deer.

Pub quiz fact: Richmond upon Thames is theonly London borough spanning both sides of the River Thames.

Population: According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the estimated population was 196,678 people in 2024.

Demographics: According to the 2021 census, 80% identify as white, 8.9% as Asian, 1.9% as black, 5.5% as mixed race and 3.3% as another ethnic group.

Average property price: According to the ONS, the average house price in Richmond upon Thames in December 2025 was £777,000.

Average monthly rent: The ONS reported that the average monthly rent in January 2026 in Richmond upon Thames was £2,254.

Council tax: Band D council tax in the borough for 2026/27 is £1,975.59.

Transport: Richmond upon Thames has two Tube stations, two London Overground stations and approximately 490 bus stops, according to Transport for London. It also has 14 National Rail stations.

Local history: The area of Richmond was long popular with the royals and gained its name by royal command in the reign of Henry VII, who was Earl of Richmond in Yorkshire. He had Richmond Palace built in the area in the early 16th Century.

The borough is also home to Hampton Court Palace, the Grade I listed former home of Henry VIII, Mary II and other royals from around 1500 to the first half of 18th Century.

Kew Gardens was founded in 1759 by Princess Augusta, mother of King George III, and grew to become a national botanical garden in 1840. It became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2003.

In the mid-18th Century, a bridge was built across the Thames at Kew, later followed by a bridge at Twickenham. The population rose significantly from this point, and continued into the 19th Century, when railways arrived.

The borough was established in its current form in 1965 with the merging of Barnes, Richmond and Twickenham.

What is the borough's electoral history? From its creation in 1965 until 1982, Richmond was a Conservative-run borough.

It then fell into no overall control and since 1986 it has been either Lib Dem (previously the Liberal/SDP Alliance) or Conservative controlled. The Lib Dems have been in charge since 2018.

What happened in 2022? Richmond had the highest turnout in London at 47.7% and there was an 8.2% swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems.

Lib Dems: 48 seats (+9)

Conservatives: 1 seat (-10)

Greens: 5 seats (+1)

Since the election, the Lib Dems took the Tories' only seat in a by-election.

Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics said "Richmond is now the safest London borough in terms of Liberal Democrat control.

"The Conservatives, not doing well in the polls, would be their natural opponents there. They're not going to do particularly well.

"It looks as if only the Greens could possibly take one or two seats from the Liberal Democrats in Richmond, but Richmond will stay Liberal Democrat controlled."

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