Reform UK stormed into Chelsea last night (18th November) with a rally aimed squarely at recruiting councillors to break the Conservatives’ decades-long grip on the Royal Borough.

Around 120 locals packed St Luke’s Hall where party activists vowed to deliver a political earthquake in next May’s council elections.

They announced the party is recruiting a full slate of candidates across the borough, including the Chelsea wards — Royal Hospital, Brompton and Hans Town, and Chelsea Riverside — declaring Reform has a genuine chance of winning seats for the first time.

Kezia Noble has already thrown her hat into the ring and spoke passionately about illegal immigration. Before taking the stage, she told The Chelsea Citizen: ‘Law and order and the migrant hotels are big issues in the borough. There are so many undocumented migrants milling around in public spaces. We have to stop this.’

Actor Alexa Jago is waiting to be assigned a ward to fight: ‘British men I speak to — young and old — say they want to leave this country because they don’t think they have a future in Britain. I want to change that.’

The hall also heard from Laila Cunningham, a Reform councillor in Westminster who defected from the Tories last June, and from Reform’s London Assembly Group Leader Alex Wilson.

Some of the loudest applause followed pledges to slash RBKC’s Net Zero spending, a crackdown on crime, and a plea to scrap the proposed tourist tax.

The audience was a mix of ages, backgrounds and professions. When organisers asked who would be willing to stand as Reform councillors, 11 men and women raised their hands. Another six had previously put their names forward and have all been “vetted”.

But beneath the rallying cries, seasoned political watchers say the real impact of Reform’s push for power may lie elsewhere.

Rather than sweeping to victory, analysts warn a Reform surge is far more likely to fracture the Conservative vote — opening the door for the Liberal Democrats to snatch seats in Royal Hospital, possibly Brompton and Hans Town, and potentially giving Labour a seat in Chelsea Riverside.

Last month Conservative RBKC Council Leader Elizabeth Campbell, who represents Royal Hospital, voiced Tory jitters: ‘We must also be honest about the challenge from Reform. In borough elections, every split vote helps Labour.’

Reform UK’s Kensington and Chelsea chairman Anthony Goodwin rejected suggestions the party is paving the way for Labour and Lib Dem gains: ‘You may have been right 12 months ago, but the party nationally has such momentum now — we’re going to win some seats outright.’

With national polls showing Reform biting into the Conservative vote, the St Luke’s Hall rally made one thing clear: Chelsea is no longer a guaranteed blue fortress.

If Reform does end up splitting the right-wing vote, next May’s election, observers predict that the seats could be re-arranged to look something like this:

Royal Hospital (Sloane Square, Royal Hospital Road, Tite Street, Chelsea Embankment. A long-standing Conservative stronghold, with the Lib Dems building a base):

Conservatives hold three seats, but one could flip to the Lib Dems.

Brompton and Hans Town (Sloane Square, Knightsbridge borders, Cadogan Estate streets, high-turnover private rentals. Conservative, but younger and more internationally mobile):

Conservatives hold three seats, but Lib Dems could challenge.

Chelsea Riverside (Lots Road, Chelsea Harbour, World’s End estate, Cremorne. More socially mixed, with strong Labour pockets):

Conservatives hold two, with a possible Labour gain.

Two attendees leaving the hall offered sharply different takes:

‘I’m not a natural Reform voter, but the Tories need a wake-up call. Tonight convinced me they might actually shake things up,’ said a woman in her 40s from Chelsea Riverside.

A Royal Hospital resident in his 60s added: ‘If Reform splits the right, we’ll end up with Labour councillors — and I don’t think people here realise that.’

 

Photos ©John Cookson