After a nail-biting tit-for-tat count between the two parties and almost 12 hours of counting, Barnet Council entered into no overall control despite looking like it would be a Conservative steal.
The borough has traditionally been a safe seat for the Conservatives until Labour uprooted them in the 2022 elections so a swing back to blue is a dream that will have to wait until 2030.
While it is not a pure loss for Labour, it is definitely less than what the Tories were expecting.
Conservative leader councillor Peter Zinkin was re-elected and said: “Almost everything has winners and losers.
“We had one candidate lose by two or three votes- that’s a devastating thing to happen.”
The Conservatives needed 32 seats to gain a majority but won 31, the same number as Labour and an increase of nine seats from the previous elections.
Although Zinkin recognised that decisions can be made when not in power, he highlighted the challenges that face this new council.
He said: “Labour published a budget which forecasted a £750million deficit over the next five years.
“But I will focus the council on delivering the services that I think residents want.”
In this election, Barnet proved to be a London outlier – it maintained a two-party race while other boroughs saw strong competition from the Greens and Reform.
Entering the count, the Greens and Reform each had one councillor elected- the Greens managed to maintain theirs while Reform was ousted.
When asked if he thought Reform’s policies were unrealistic, Zinkin agreed and this was later echoed by a Conservative party spokesperson who said Barnet did not have an appetite for Reform’s policies.
The battle between red and blue meant multiple wards were recounted, creating what the spokesperson called “an air of anxiety”.
He added: “It’s clear in Barnet that a vote for Reform keeps Labour in charge. Onwards and upwards.”
Barnet’s voter turnout was 42.2%, up almost five percentage points from the previous local elections.
After the 2022 elections, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer came to Barnet’s streets to celebrate but after last night’s results it may be safe to say that he will not be visiting anytime soon.
Check out the rest of the NWLondoner election content here.
Join the discussion