Local elections profile: Sutton

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 Sutton is in south London and is bordered by Merton, Croydon, Kingston and Surrey.

What's it like? Sutton is regarded as a safe and family‑friendly borough with strong local schools, plenty of green space and fast rail links into central London.

Neighbourhoods: Sutton Central, Sutton South, Sutton North, Sutton Common, Cheam Village, Cheam North, Carshalton Central, Carshalton Beeches, Carshalton on the Hill, Wallington North, Wallington South, Worcester Park, Belmont, Hackbridge, Beddington, St Helier, Rose Hill, Stonecot.

Places of interest: Sutton is home to attractions including Mayfield Lavender Farm, Honeywood Museum, Whitehall Historic House, Nonsuch Park, Sutton Ecology Centre and the historic Carshalton Ponds.

Pub quiz fact: The Cheam Charter Fair is traditionally believed to date back to 1259, when King Henry III granted a charter to make Cheam a town.

Population (2024 estimate): 214,525

Demographics: In 2021, 68.3% of Sutton residents identified as white, 17.5% as Asian, 5.9% as black, and 4.8% as mixed or multiple ethnic groups.

Average property price: According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average house price in Sutton in December 2025 was £451,000.

Average monthly rent: The ONS reported that the average monthly rent in January 2026 in Sutton was £1,544.

Council tax: Band D council tax in the borough in 2026/27 is £2,378.64

Transport: Sutton has nine train stations, two nearby tram stops and about 365 bus stops.

More information about Sutton borough can be found here.

Local history: The London Borough of Sutton has a rich heritage, with many of its oldest places - such as Beddington Church, Cheam Village, Wallington and All Saints Church in Carshalton - recorded in the Domesday Book.

Beddington was once home to a Roman villa and later a deer park visited by Henry VIII, while the River Wandle powered industry from the Middle Ages and became known as one of the hardest‑working rivers in the world.

Sutton's landscape holds traces of its past, from possible Roman roads to former gallows sites, and by the 19th Century Carshalton was the borough's largest village.

Sutton has 181 nationally listed buildings, including Carew Manor's great hall and Cheam's historic Whitehall.

Its history features vivid stories, from the demolition of Nonsuch Palace to Derby-day scandals.

What is the electoral history of the borough? From its creation until the mid-1980s, Sutton was a Conservative-run borough with Labour in second place. The Liberals won no seats in 1968, two in 1978 and three in 1982.

The Liberals (later the Lib Dems) began their rise in 1986 when they won 28 seats, becoming the largest party with the council having no overall control.

In 1990 the Lib Dems won a majority and have controlled Sutton Council ever since, with the Conservatives as the opposition and Labour a distant third, or with no councillors at all from 2006 until the last election.

What happened in 2022? The turnout was 40% and there was a 0.3% swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems.

Lib Dem: 29 seats (-4)

Conservative: 20 seats (+2)

Labour: 3 seats (+3)

Sutton Independent Residents: 3 seats (no change)

Boundary changes increased the number of seats from 54 to 55.

Since the election, the Tories won a by-election from Labour, while one Lib Dem resigned and sits as an independent.

Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics said Sutton has been controlled continuously by the Liberal Democrats since 1986.

This time they face a threat from Reform UK.

There are parts of the borough which voted Leave in the 2016 referendum, which could well be won by Reform, but probably not to the extent that the Liberal Democrats lose power.

So - Lib Dems to lose seats but probably just about to retain control.

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