Jubilant Tories were celebrating victory today after comfortably tightening their grip on power in a landmark RBKC election.

After rises in Council Tax and the controversial premium on second homes, the man or woman on the King’s Road omnibus might have expected the Conservatives to face serious political headwinds. Not so.

As the final declaration came in — and with 34 out of 50 seats safely in the bag — a smiling Conservative leader Cllr Elizabeth Campbell told The Citizen: “I’m really thrilled and excited. I think we knocked it out of the park.”

The Conservatives romped home across the Chelsea heartlands. Courtfield, Brompton & Hans Town, Stanley, Royal Hospital, Redcliffe and Chelsea Riverside now sit firmly behind a solid blue wall with a combined total of 18 Tory councillors. But that was not the whole story of the night.

Labour also chalked up significant gains, boosting their representation from seven seats to 13 in what remains a traditionally Conservative-run borough.

“Tell south Chelsea – Labour is coming”

Party leader and former Somali refugee Kassim Ali comfortably won his seat in Notting Dale, giving Labour all three councillors in the ward. The party also enjoyed strong performances in Colville — snatching one seat from the Conservatives while holding two others — and gained two seats in Dalgarno and Golborne.

Asked what lay behind Labour’s success, bucking the wider national trend, Cllr Ali told The Citizen: “We listen. That’s what we do,” he said. ” I’m proud of our progress.”

And he had this warning shot for the south of the borough, where Labour has yet to make major inroads: “We will go from the north, to the centre and to the south. Wards like Chelsea Riverside: tell them we are coming!”

The only bright spot for the Liberal Democrats came in Earl’s Court, where the party secured a three-seat victory including a return for campaigning LibDem firebrand Linda Wade.

There was also a noticeable surge in Green Party support in the north of the borough, although RBKC’s only Green councillor, veteran campaigner Mona Adam, narrowly lost her seat in Golborne.

And unlike the national picture, it was back to the drawing board for Reform UK in Kensington and Chelsea.

Despite noisy rallies, glamorous candidates and bold predictions, the electorate largely gave Nigel Farage’s party the thumbs down. Royal Hospital proved the only flicker of encouragement for Reform — but even there the party’s main candidate managed just 429 votes.

The count began shortly after 10pm in Kensington Town Hall’s Great Hall, where studious tellers sat at blue baize tables through the night carefully sorting and counting a mountain of 35,000 ballot papers.

The atmosphere crackled with tension as anxious candidates and agents hovered over the counting tables, watching bundles of votes being stacked with all the intensity of punters gathered round a Las Vegas craps table.

Turnout reached 37.3 per cent — more than four points higher than in 2022, though still roughly average for a London borough election.

Excitement surged shortly after 4am when RBKC Chief Executive and Returning Officer Maxine Holdsworth called candidates in Pembridge into a tight huddle on the stage. Minutes later the official, in a relaxed-fit, pearl grey suit over a black top, confirmed the Conservatives had held both seats there — setting the tone for the rest of the night.

Exhausted council staff were still at work after 8am after talk of a possible recount in St Helen’s ward.

After a bruising all-night session, bright as a button Cllr Campbell was asked what her priorities would be for the next four years.

“Get the basics right,” she said. “Do what people want, don’t talk about what’s happening in the international world.

“Pick up bins twice a week, have a borough wide parking permit.

“Make our residents’ life easier when they want to contact the Council, do things with the Council, and make sure that we enhance our heritage, our beautiful parks, our wonderful spaces, and keep the streets spotless and pothole free.”