The Tories are expecting a heavy defeat in the borough.
The Conservatives need to do more to reach out to the working class across London, according to one of its candidates standing for election in Lambeth today.
Labour already have a strong hold on Lambeth, with 44 seats out of 63 across the borough, but things look set to get even worse for the Conservatives today.
The candidate, who wished to remain nameless ahead of the results this afternoon, claimed that the Tories were already accepting a heavy defeat in the borough.
He said: “Today will be a wake-up call for the Conservatives in London. We need to do a lot of soul-searching as the party is failing to get the working class vote here.
“We’ve got to do a lot more to reach out as these used to be areas that would vote conservative, but the party seems to be writing them off now.”
This is despite Conservative efforts to win Lambeth voters over by pledging to cut council tax, reduce the £460million in borough debt, scrap Labour plans to spend £50m on a new town hall, and back more small shops and services with levy business rate discounts.
The Conservatives currently hold just four seats in the borough (two each in Thurlow Park and Clapham Common), but the candidate was not confident of even holding onto those.
He added: “It looks bleak. It’s not so much nerves today, people are more just accepting a pretty resounding defeat. It’s not looking like it’s going to be a good day.”
Lambeth results are set to be announced from 12.30 at Brixton Recreation Centre today. Follow @SW_Londoner for updates throughout the afternoon.
