Labour Councillor Stands Down in Key Marginal Ward

---

Conservatives handed chance to secure majority on Wandsworth Council

A job change put Lizzy Dobres in a role which meant she couldn't remain as a councillor . Picture: Wandsworth Labour

July 14, 2026

A Labour councillor has resigned from Wandsworth Council, with the result of a forthcoming by-election potentially tipping control of the authority in favour of the Conservatives.

Labour councillor Lizzy Dobres, who represented Trinity, has quit after four years to take up a new job that is “politically restricted”.

A by-election will be held in the coming weeks for the seat in Trinity, which could decide control of the council for the next four years. If the Conservatives win the by-election, the group would have a two-seat majority to control the council whereas at the moment they control it as a minority administration.

The ward covers the area around Wandsworth Town Station, the redeveloped Ram Quarter, and the residential streets leading toward Putney Bridge Road and Wandsworth Par

Ms Dobres said: “Serving as a councillor for Trinity has been one of the greatest privileges of my life, and stepping down is not a decision I ever wanted to make.

“I had every intention of serving my full term. However, after a prolonged period of uncertainty in my day job whilst pregnant, I have accepted a politically restricted role. That means I can’t serve as a councillor while working in this job.”

The Trinity ward, which is represented by two councillors, saw a shift in the local elections in May, as former Labour councillor Jack Mayorcas lost his seat to Conservative councillor Kirsten Botting by 64 votes. Ms Dobres held her own seat by 195 votes.

2026 Wandsworth London Borough Council election: Trinity
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Lizzy Dobres	1,842	21
	Conservative	Kirsten Botting	1,647	19
	Labour	Jack Mayorcas	1583	18
	Conservative	Otto Jacobsson	1518	17
	Green	Georgia Rayner	759	9
	Green	Jed Simister	508	6
	Liberal Democrats	Dylan Henderson	250	3
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Ogden	221	3
	Reform	Veronica De Homersley	199	2
	Reform	Mark Elliott	198	2
	Independent	Mary Ingham	56	1
	TUSC	Adam Powell-Davies	11	0
Turnout			8,792
	Labour hold
	Conservative gain from Labour

The elections saw Labour lose overall control of the South London borough, with the Conservatives just one seat short of the 30 needed to win a majority.

The Conservatives won 29 seats in the local elections – up seven compared to 2022 – while Labour secured 28 seats, down seven from the previous elections.

The Conservatives struck a deal with independent councillor Malcolm Grimston to govern the authority under a confidence and supply arrangement. This means Councillor Grimston supports the Conservatives on key votes needed for the council to keep functioning, including the annual budget and votes of no confidence.

But the Conservatives would no longer need this agreement if the group won the by-election for Ms Dobres’ seat.

Tooting Labour announced Ms Dobres’ resignation in an email to members on Friday (July 10), in which they said she had “worked tirelessly for the community” since being elected to the council in 2022 – including leading on work to address violence against women and girls.

Ms Dobres added: “While it is incredibly difficult to leave a role and a community I care so deeply about, I know this is the right next step. Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past four years. It has been an honour to represent Trinity, and I will always be grateful for the trust you placed in me.

“I wish my colleagues every success and look forward to cheering them on as they continue to serve our community.”

The council has not yet announced the date of the by-election.

Ms Dobres’ resignation came on the same day Conservative councillor Aled Richards-Jones announced he was stepping down as leader of the council due to increasing work commitments.

Councillor Richards-Jones’ successor is expected to be announced in the coming days.

Charlotte Lilywhite - Local Democracy Reporter

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.