Merton London Borough Council elections

[1] Longthornton and Tamworth Residents Association is a residents association in the Longthornton area, which lies in the triangle between Pollards Hill, Streatham Vale and Mitcham Eastfields.

[2] Between 1964 and 1994, LTRA contested elections in Merton, initially in the Mitcham Central ward.

[6] At the 1994 election, LTRA lost two seats to Labour.

By the time of the 1998 election, its last councillor no longer sat for the party.

The MPWRA has two councillors on Merton London Borough Council, and for this purpose is registered as the political party Merton Park Ward Independent Residents.

[9] The MPWRA was formed in 1989 in order to contest a by-election that October in the Merton Park ward, caused by the resignation of a Conservative councillor.

The MPWRA opposed the proposed extension of the A24 relief road across a corner of the Merton Park Conservation Area, which required the demolition of several Victorian houses.

[9][10] At the by-election, Bridget Smith was elected for the MPWRA; this hung the council.

[10] In the following year's local elections, the MPWRA gained all three council seats of the Merton Park ward, becoming the third-largest party on the council.

[10] The MPWRA held every seat in the ward in all subsequent elections, although the number of seats for the ward was reduced to two ahead of the 2022 elections.

[11][12] Following seat gains for the Liberal Democrats on other wards at the 2018 elections, the MPWRA became the fourth-largest party on the council.

[13] Since its founding, the MPWRA has campaigned for the redevelopment of Nelson Hospital and the regeneration of Morden's town centre.

[10] The MPWRA publishes a quarterly local publication known as Forum.

Since this by-election, the Conservatives have yet to win back majority control of the council.

This was the first election ever contested by the Merton Park Ward Residents Association, which had run in opposition to the council's proposed extension of the A24 relief road.