Published: Thursday 28 May 2026
Councillor Elizabeth Campbell has been confirmed as Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea following the Conservative group's majority in the May 2026 local elections. Her third time in the role, and one she says she accepts with humility and a clear sense of purpose.
Speaking at the Council's annual meeting, Cllr Campbell reflected on what residents told her during this election campaign. The message, she said, was not about grand ambitions or headline-making announcements. It was about the everyday things that make a borough work: clean streets, well-maintained parks, bins collected on time, and a Council that responds when it is needed. "They want the basics done brilliantly," she told the chamber. "And that is exactly what we will do."
That commitment is already being translated into action. A refreshed leadership team will take forward four central themes:
- Clean streets and amazing places
- Value for money
- Continuing to get the basics right
- Making residents' lives easier
The team brings together experienced councillors across a range of portfolios, with Cllr Emma Will stepping up as Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Finance and Property.
- Cllr Cem Kemahli takes on Housing
- Cllr Tom Bennett leads on Modernisation and Change
- Cllr Sarah Addenbrooke on Business and Communities
- Cllr Johnny Thalassites on Resident Services, Planning and Enforcement
- Cllr Josh Rendall on Transport, Parks and Clean Streets
- Cllr Lucy Knight on Adult Social Care and Public Health
- Cllr Catherine Faulks on Families and Children.
Cllr Campbell also used her speech to pay a personal tribute to outgoing Deputy Leader Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith, who steps back from the leadership team after nearly a decade of service to the borough.
Full details of the new leadership team and portfolios are available here.
Video: Annual Council, 27 May 2026
- Transcript of this video from 1 hour 11 minutes
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1:11:31 And to fellow councillors across the chamber, welcome. To those that are new, don't worry. You know, I know how it feels. It's like starting at a new school. You might be worried about a teacher asking you to speak in front of the class. You might be worried about the homework that you might be set. But on your first day, if you can figure out where to sit, make some friends, know your enemies, you should just about get through.
1:11:52 But on your first day, if you can learn where to get your organisation, make some friends, know your enemies, you should come to it all. Madame Mayor, it's the start of a new term. And let me start by saying how wonderful it is that to be standing here once again. Third time, but not by luck. To be returned as leader of this Council.
1:12:16 Is not something I take lightly. It is not a title. It is not a prize. It's a responsibility. One that I accept it with humility, with energy and with a very clear understanding of what the people of Kensington Chelsea are asking of us. So let me start, where I always believe we should start. With a thank you to every resident who cast their vote in this election. Whether you voted Conservative, whether you voted for another party or whether you came to the polls uncertain and hoping to be convinced.
1:12:49 Thank you. You engaged, you participated and in so doing you reminded us that local democracy matters. That what happens in this Chamber matters. To those who did vote Conservative thank you for your confidence. We know it must be earned every single day through the decisions we make and the service we deliver. So, what did residents tell us at the election? They told us us something important. Something that if we're honest, politics sometimes forgets.1:13:22 They did not come to the doorstep, asking us for grand visions and headline grabbing announcements. They came with the things that matter in daily life. They came asking, 'Is my street clean? Are the parks looked after? Is my bin collected? Is the Council there when I need it and does it actually sort things out? Madam Mayor they want the basics done brilliantly, and that is exactly what we will do.
1:13:53 Our Manifesto makes clear promises rooted in that exact, same principle. Cleaner streets, better maintained public spaces, faster, more responsive services. A council that spends public money carefully and wisely. A housing service that treats people with dignity and gets repairs done properly, first time. These are not small things.
1:14:19 Done well, day after day, they are the entire foundation of what a good local authority looks like.
1:14:27 We will not be distracted by noise. We will not be drawn into the kind of politics that prioritises announcements over delivery. Kensington and Chelsea does not need to reinvent itself. It needs to be excellent at what it does, and under my leadership it will be. I am proud of the team around me.
1:14:56 I am proud of the officers of this council, who serve residents with professionalism and dedication regardless of who sits in the leader's chair. And I am proud of every Conservative Councillor who knocked on doors to listen to residents and stood on a platform of practical, caring, competent local government. But I want to take a moment now, and I hope you can forgive me if this becomes a little personal, to speak about someone who will not be sitting beside me in this new administration.
1:15:28 After a decade, or nearly a decade as deputy leader of this council, Councillor Kim Taylor-Smith has decided to step back. And I want this Chamber and everyone watching this evening to understand what that means. Not procedurally, not structurally, but what it means.
1:15:52 Kim took on the Housing Brief in 2017 and he did so in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell fire. The most devastating and heart breaking event in this borough's history. There is no way to describe adequately what it asked of him. To sit with families who had lost everything. The grief, the anger, the trauma. Not at arms length, not through briefing notes, but face-to-face, week after week, year after year. To make decisions about housing, community in the shadow of such tragedy, and knowing that every decision carried a weight
1:16:39 that most of us in public life will never fully understand. And he did it because he cared. Not because he was asked to build a career from it. Not because it suited a particular ambition or profile. But because there were people who needed someone to show up and he showed up. And he didn't get it right every time and he would never suggest he did. But he did give the role every thing he had. Every single time.
1:17:06 And Kim is not a politician. And I mean that as the highest complement I know how to give. He never sought the lime light. He was never interested in how something would play. How it would be covered or what it would do for his standing. He just asked, 'what is the right thing to do and how do we do it?'
1:17:31 And then he just got on with it. Quietly, consistently, without fan fare. In an age when politics too often attracts people who focus on their own progression. Kim is proof that the most important work is usually done by people who've never once thought about themselves while they were doing it. He achieved so much precisely because he was simply himself. As decent, warm principled human-being who cared about people.
1:18:01 And now I want to say something that goes beyond the professional. Kim has been deputy, but more than that, he has been a friend. My anchor in moments when I needed one. He has a quality that I think is rarer than any political skill. He always knew when something was weighing on me, when the pressure was building, when I needed someone to say the right thing at exactly the right moment.
1:18:30 And he always found a way to do it. Not with grand gestures, not with long conversations, well not most of the time. Just with his presence, his positivity and a particular kindness that is entirely and unmistakably his own. I will miss his guidance more than I can say. I will miss his instinct, his humour and his steadiness. The chair beside me will feel different, this council will feel different.
1:19:00 And I want him to truly know how grateful I am. Not just on behalf of this Chamber. Not just on behalf of residents he has served so faithfully. But personally. So, Kim, thank you for your work on Grenfell, for your work on housing, for nine years of doing this the right way, and for every quiet moment when you knew exactly what I needed.
1:19:29 Madam Mayor, Kensington and Chelsea is a remarkable place. It is diverse, creative, challenging and proud. it's residents deserve a council that matches their ambitions. Not with rhetoric, but with results. We've got the basics right before, we'll get them right again. I am honoured to lead this team and this council. And we intend to make it count.
1:20:00 Thank you. [pause] Councillor Press. Thank you Madam Mayor and congratulations on your election. And congratulations to Councillor Nor on his election as deputy mayor. Just one of the many talented and dedicated individuals to come out of North Kensington.
1:20:48 We hope you both have a very enjoyable and successful year. And look forward to welcoming you frequently in North Kensington. And, please Madam Mayor, don't worry about your strong New York accent, because in North Kensington, we speak fluent English with lots of accents, so you are most welcome.
1:21:13 And thank you, Councillor Campbell for your welcome to us all and your heart felt speech. You noted straight after the election that your vote share has risen. And we in the Labour Party are happy to take some credit in saving you all in the South some gym memberships and getting you out on the doorstep far more than in previous elections as you faced opposition, as we did, from two, nay, three parties.
1:21:40 And we recognize your hard work in trying to take St Helens. Our commiserations. But the Tory Party has never had a mandate in North Kensington. And once again the Labour Party and thirteen Labout Councillors councils in all five wards represent the Republic of North Kensington. I want to note and congratulate the Lib Dems in now having all three seats in the grand estate of Earls Court. A mark of the three candidates hard work, the awful neglect of residents in Earls Court by the council,
1:22:30 and the many years of hard work and casework by Councillor Linda Wade. Congratulations, Councillor. So we now have 16 alternative voices in this chamber. But jesting apart, it is a time for reflection for both main parties.
1:22:55 As you say voters have made it clear. They want more choice and the days of two party politics are numbered. A 37% turnout, although it is slightly better than normal, is nothing to be proud of. And within that percentage, we must all recognise that a number of voters did turn out and voted for other parties. Reform 10% and the Greens 8%.
1:23:19 National and international issues may have influenced our voters here in Kensington and Chelsea. But this opposition party will be focussing on local, borough level issues and the basics. The key issues impacting the just under 150,000 residents in our wards. And also the many hard working and struggling residents across this borough, such as the many forgotten and marginalised residents in some council and housing association housing, and over priced, private rentals across this borough.
1:23:56 It is a time for all of us in the Chamber to recognise the importance of this council's Charter for Public Participation. And how it is understood and implemented by all of us and by officers. Not just that final, attractive, six week, online consultation process, but the key stages and the first pledge this council makes in that document as regards its values and behaviour.
1:24:27 And it states this council accepts the principle that those who are impacted upon by major proposals or actions should be given an opportunity to be involved in advance. In advance. And the first pledge that this Labour group makes in its 2026 Manifesto is to ensure that local voices are heard by decision makers. And that we keep our residents fully informed and consulted on all changes in the wards that affect them and their neighbourhoods.
1:25:05 This is a key priority for us in opposition as we pledge to work for all our residents regardless of who they voted for. Now the majority party may be looking to celebrate as they enter their 61st year of controlling this council. But it is shocking and I'm afraid shameful that as RBKC remains one of the richest boroughs in the UK. It still remains the most unequal borough in Britain. And this divide is deepening with stark contrasts in wealth, health and life expectancy between the North and South. These are the basics.
1:25:46 In the North, we on average die 17 years younger than residents in the South. And we have a much higher rate of diabetics, hyper tension and mental health issues. Low pay, unemployment and child poverty rates are significantly higher in North Kensington than the London average. The borough has historically high rates of school exclusions again mainly in the North.
1:26:14 These are the basics that we all in this Chamber should be addressing. This divide was highlighted by the Grenfell Tower fire, a totally avoidable disaster. And we will continue to fight for truth and justice for the victims, survivors and the bereaved. This year and for the next four years, as does our Labour MP Joe Powell.
1:26:40 Justice cannot be delayed or denied any longer. Individuals and companies need to be charged and brought to court this year. It may have been almost 9 years ago but we won't forget and cannot understand the leadership's recent decision to withdraw the chairing of the Housing and Scrutiny Committee from the Labor opposition group. This
1:27:13 decision is yet another broken commitment made after the Grenfell Tower fire. Nine years since the Grenfell disaster but only nine months since the UK regulator of social housing published an independent inspection judgement on this council in August 2025. And which graded RBKC Housing a C3 for serious failings noting major shortcomings on the high percentage of homes
1:27:47 failing to meet the decent homes standard and backlogs of repairs and incomplete, yes, fire risk assessments. What message does taking a North Kensington Labour Chair from the Housing Scrutiny Committee send Grenfell survivors and bereaved, and all of us in North Kensington and living in RBKC managed homes? This council is in special measures referencing its Housing department and should be scrutinised by a chair opposition committee. It is unjust, illogical and plain unfair and could take us back 9 years re: relations with the North Kensington community.
1:28:36 I had hoped tonight to be making a fairly light, welcoming speech, but since we were only informed on Monday evening, I have to mention this and we will be taking it further. So international [and] national events and policies will continue to impact on us here at RBKC, and we recognise the challenges to this Council by the cost of living crisis and the Government' fair funding calculations for borough level funding.
1:29:13 And we are here to assist, we are here to challenge, and we are here to help them with the many difficult choices that this Council will have to be take over the next 4 years. Although far less difficult than many poorer London boroughs. We are here to help, we are here to work together. For example, when tackling a reduced annual budget and funding, the Council's instinct was to immediately focus on, briefly consult on, and then reduce the Council tax reductions offered to the poorest families in this borough families in the borough, saving a mere £440,000 at
1:29:56 the expense of the very poorest 5,000 residents. And later, very reluctantly, this leadership was dragged into raising the council tax on second homes of some of the richest residents in the borough by 5%. A solution to the under funding that this Government had suggested. And resulting in an extra incomes calculated at 12 million per annum. So we're here to ensure that you take the fairer choices the first time.
1:30:34 So we're pleased to be back. We are pleased to be back in numbers. We are skilled, organised, informed and united. And we will be serious, responsible and active as your opposition.
1:30:54 We're committed to ensuring services, opportunities and funding are far more fairly shared in this borough. Thank you. I'm finishing. And hopefully we will save this council as much money by 2030, that it can afford a few more chairs for candidates at the Election Night count. Thank you. [pause] I'd like to congratulate Councillor Press on her election as opposition group leader and welcome you back.
1:31:39 And her maiden speech, thank you very much, in this new term of the council. Now, review of representation on council committees. Item 11, ratios and appointments to committees. The appointments sheet has been circulated in the supplementary agenda pack.
1:32:04 May I have a proposer and a seconder to the report's reception? I'd like to propose a report. I beg to second. I call upon councillors Adinbrook, Beckkett and Wade to move the nomination standing in their names.
1:32:31 Councillor Adinbrook move the nomination standing in your name, please. I wish to remove the nomination standing in my name. Becket Assembly. I move the nomination standing in my name. And Councillor Wade. Nominations in my name. Thank you.
1:32:55 Does council agree to note the political balance, confirm the ratios and appointments in committees and agree the appointment of the chair and vice chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee? The recommendations are noted and agreed as appropriate. Appointments to outside bodies. Item 12. The appointments sheet has been circulated in the supplementary papers.
1:33:30 I call upon councillors Addenbrooke and Beckett to move the nominations standing in their names. Councillor Addenbrooke. I wish to move the nomination standing in my name. Councillor Beckett. I move the nomination standing in my name. Are the nominations as set out in the supplementary agenda pack agreed? And the leader of the council's nominees to London Council noted? The nominations are agreed.
1:34:02 Any other oral or written items which the mayor considers urgent? So there is no other business to bring to the members' attention. Well, that concludes the business of the Annual Council. To speed things up, may I invite everyone to remain seated as we shall now proceed with the meeting of all councillor side committees to elect chairs and vice chairs.
1:34:45 All the relevant papers have been circulated. Item 1. Will Council note the memberships of the Council-side committees as set out in the supplementary papers pack? I declare them noted. Members are now asked to appoint the chairs and vice chairs of the committees excluding overview and scrutiny committee, as that was determined at the annual council meeting.
1:35:29 Are the appointments of chairs and vice chairs as set out the supplementary PAC agreed? Agreed. I declare that agreed. That concludes the business of this meeting. The next meeting of the full council is on Wednesday, 24 June. Good night.