With just one day to go until the local elections, political parties across Lewisham have published their manifesto pledges which detail how they would rule the council over the next four years.

As well as electing the next set of local councillors, Lewisham residents who are eligible to vote will also be choosing the next mayor to lead the council for the next four years.

Lewisham is one of five London boroughs that has a directly-elected mayor, with the other boroughs being Croydon, Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets.

Across the 19 wards in Lewisham, a total of 265 candidates are hoping to win one of the 54 seats up for grabs.

Labour and the Conservatives each have 54 candidates, meaning there is a person contesting every seat in the borough. The Green Party has 53 nominees while the Liberal Democrats have 52 candidates.

Reform UK has 35 candidates, while there are five Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates. There are three independents and three Your Party candidates who are also contesting seats.

The Christian Peoples Alliance, the Climate Party, the Motoring Party and the Communist Party of Britain all have one candidate each standing for election.

Two candidates, Kim Allenby and Raymond Allenby, did not complete all of the nomination papers so it is not known which party they are standing for.

During the 2022 local election in Lewisham, every seat was won by Labour.

However, since the election three councillors have defected from Labour to the Greens. A fourth, who was suspended by Labour, later joined the Greens.

Lewisham has been pretty strongly Labour-controlled, but according to analysis from pollsters More in Common, the Green Party are expected to make “considerable progress” which could lead them to significant gains in the borough, as well as in Hackney, Islington, Southwark and Newham.

Professor Tony Travers, of the London School of Economics, told the BBC: “-it’s hard to see Labour controlling anything like the number of seats they have now, but probably they will remain the biggest party but with significant Green incursions.”

From crime and safety to housing and transport, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has compiled a list of each of the manifesto commitments from the main political parties below:

Conservative Party

Crime and Safety

Create a borough crime dashboard for residents
Target phone-snatching, theft, anti-social behaviour (ASB) and known hot spots with visible patrols
Better use of CCTV and stronger local reporting
Improve victim support with a single clear contact route for council-linked casework

Housing

Publish repair backlogs, clear service standards, and a rapid-response approach for damp, mould, electrical hazards, and other serious risks
Step up enforcement against rogue landlords, poor-quality HMOs (House in Multiple Occupation), and repeat offenders using civil penalties and prosecution where needed
Create an Empty Homes Taskforce to bring long-term empty properties back into use faster

Transport and Environment

Publish a public clean-up map so residents can see what has been reported, what has been cleared and what offences remain
Review Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and traffic measures using published evidence, proper consultation and before-and-after reporting
Press Transport for London (TfL) on reliability, accessibility, and better connections where residents feel cut out

Local Economy

Create a small high-street uplift fund for shopfronts, signage, lighting, and meanwhile use of empty units
Treat small businesses as partners and review where council processes create unnecessary friction
Support micro-businesses, local traders, and start-ups with affordable workspaces

Schools and Young People

Treat youth policy as prevention, not an afterthought
Link youth provision to real outcomes such as attendance, qualifications, apprenticeships, and job placements
Work with schools, community groups, employers, and voluntary organisations so support is local, visible, and practical

Labour

Crime and Safety

Organise regular neighbourhood safety events
Tackle ASB by establishing regular patrols in hotspots across Lewisham
Maintain a 24/7 staffed CCTV control room
Fund refuge and support services for those experiencing gender-based violence
Reduce theft and violence towards shop workers by strengthening the Safer Business Network

Housing

Retrofit 1,500 council homes to reduce their energy bills and help residents with the cost of living
Take urgent action to eliminate damp and mould from council housing and ensure repairs are carried out quickly and effectively
Campaign for rent controls in the private sector
Protect renters by ensuring higher standards for private landlords through licensing and ramping up enforcement

Transport and Environment

Push for better public transport including the Bakerloo Line extension, late night DLR (Docklands Light Railway) services and a new Surrey Road Canal station
Push for faster bus routes, more night buses, and train station upgrades and accessibility improvements
Create more walking and cycling routes across the borough
Install more CCTV at fly-tipping hotspots and fine those responsible, whilst maintaining low-cost bulky waste charges

Local Economy

Use government powers to auction long-vacant commercial properties on high streets
Offer in-work training programmes for low-paid, insecure workers of all ages to help residents gain qualifications and move into better-paid jobs
Increase opportunities for small businesses by launching several night markets

Schools and Young People

Work with schools to champion responsible smartphone policies, stamp out cyberbullying and provide distraction-free learning environments
Support young people most at risk of being left behind by creating the Lewisham Young People’s Trust
Invest in youth clubs, sports courts and adventure playgrounds and expand the number of sports, music and cultural activities for young people outside of school

Green Spaces

Plant 4,000 new trees and manage existing street trees to prevent excessive damage or obstruction to pavements
Invest in the borough’s playgrounds, school yards, estates and parks
Enable community groups to adopt rain gardens and support residents in creating pocket parks
Make parks more accessible and safer for women and girls

Leisure and Culture

Deliver a developer-funded, multi-million-pound not-for-profit culture and live music venue in Lewisham
Showcase, mentor and fund local Black and Asian artists by bringing back the SEEN festival in 2027
Prevent new housing developments from contributing to the closure of existing music venues by introducing night-time impact assessments for major development schemes

Social Care

Expand free childcare for under 2s with up to 570 hours per year to help families with the cost of living
Provide free baby boxes for care leavers and expectant mothers living in temporary accommodation
Work with Age UK to bring an affordable and trusted handyman service to Lewisham to assist those who need a bit of help with jobs around the home
Create 250 more specialist places in mainstream schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

Liberal Democrats

Crime and Safety

Establish a public health approach to crime
Work with City Hall and the Metropolitan Police to deliver a visible and accessible police presence that engages with communities
Prioritise safety for all road users through planning and collaboration throughout the community, including reviewing current road layouts
Keep pavements clear and well lit

Housing

Decouple the electricity price from the price of gas to bring down bills for homes and businesses
Get maintenance done and prioritise building social homes over expensive flats
Cut Lewisham’s contribution to pollution and Climate Change through retrofitting homes, installing solar and heat pumps, and a planning system that prioritises nature

Transport and Environment

Clean up fly-tipping through the use of data and enforcement
Keep pavements clean by making sure streets are swept regularly
Alleviate the costs of bulky-waste disposal using community skips
Increase opening hours at Landsmann Way waste centre
Make sure the council works with others across London and nationally to defeat organised criminal rubbish dumping
Reform fuel duty on petrol, lower the cap on bus fares, slash rail prices and boost cycle parking locally
Install more electric vehicle chargers while reforming VAT and unfair network charges

Local Economy

Bring together small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups to make Lewisham a thriving local economy
Channel council investments into positive, sustainable funds instead of war, genocide, gambling, tobacco, or fossil fuels

Green Party

Crime and Safety

Hold the police accountable for tackling organised crime that drives phone-snatching, parcel theft and grooming
Challenge the police to improve trust and outcomes, particularly for Black communities who are over-policed and under-protected
Defend LGBTQ+ rights and declare Lewisham a Trans Friendly Borough, with proactive outreach and support
Support victims of the Windrush scandal by setting up a Community Advisory Panel and sharing best practice and advice to ensure affected residents access compensation

Housing

Deliver 1,000 high quality, energy efficient homes for social rent and build more family homes
Expand retrofit of existing council homes to improve energy efficiency
Bring empty homes back into use for local residents and support tenants’ rights to manage their homes
Campaign for rent controls within the private rented sector
Establish a Rogue Landlord Taskforce

Transport and Environment

Expand School Streets, walking and cycling networks, and cargo bike infrastructure
Upgrade streets with safer crossings, drop kerbs for prams, wheelchairs and powered wheelchairs, and expand cycle parking
Hold dockless e-bike companies accountable for proper parking and storage
Deliver an innovative anti fly-tipping strategy and improve estate waste systems, organising community skip days, beautifying problem areas and increasing enforcement at hotspots

Local Economy

Use new powers to bring vacant high street units back into use
Support the food sector and night-time economy, champion pubs, commercial kitchens, hospitality and cultural spaces
Establish a Popular Assets Commission, supporting residents into common ownership of public assets like community centres and pubs
Develop an Industrial and Skills Strategy for Lewisham, to support enterprise in retrofit, green energy, construction, care work, and digital and creative sectors

Schools and Young People

Work with schools to identify ways to ease financial pressures, become more financially resilient and minimise impact to education and learning
Formalise a youth volunteer network, connect youth service to the Creative Enterprise Zone, creating clear pathways into creative and digital careers
Improve training opportunities for young people and ensure Section 106 agreements deliver jobs and apprenticeships retrofit, construction and renewable energy

Green Spaces

Make Lewisham a Right to Grow borough, supporting food growing on public land and expand allotment access
Facilitate resident decision-making through participatory budgeting on Nature Towns and Cities and Carbon Offset funding to help enhance green spaces, safeguard Local Wildlife Sites, and increase tree cover

Leisure and Culture

Reintroduce Lewisham People’s Day
Protect libraries as essential community hubs for learning, creativity and culture
Acknowledge Lewisham’s links to the transatlantic slave trade, decolonise public spaces and education, and work with local historians to establish a slavery museum in North Lewisham

Social Care

Work with the Lewisham Disabled People’s Commission, ensuring disabled people shape decisions and delivery
Expand in-borough social care provision, delivered by the council and cooperative partners
Ensure looked after children have access to high quality advocacy, and support the well-being of foster carers

Reform UK

Reform UK has not published a local manifesto for Lewisham. The LDRS contacted Reform for details of what it would do locally if it won seats, but received no reply.

However nationally the party has pledged to keep council tax low, and to place migrant detention centres in any areas that vote for the Green Party, while keeping them out of Reform-voting areas.

The party also said it wants to make it mandatory for schools to display the Union Flag and a picture of The King.