Ealing Liberal Democrats have launched their manifesto for the 2026 Ealing Council elections, setting out a series of policy pledges under the banner “Six to Fix”, including a commitment to protect the borough’s status as the “Queen of the Suburbs”.
The document sets out six priorities aimed at winning voter support: protecting public services, improving cleanliness and safety, supporting local businesses, shaping housing development, strengthening how the council engages with residents, and expanding access to sport and youth provision. The party is looking to make gains ahead of the 7 May vote.
Ealing Council, which has been run by Labour since 2010, has 56 Labour councillors, alongside eight Liberal Democrats, four Conservatives and two independents.
The manifesto was unveiled outside Ealing Town Hall by Councillor Gary Malcolm, leader of the Ealing Liberal Democrats. Councillor Malcolm said: “This documents a huge number of successes that the Liberal Democrat councillors have achieved over the past four years, and we don’t even run the council at this stage. If we did run the council, just think how many things we would change for the positive.”
Among the top pledges is a commitment to reverse planned cuts to children’s centres. Councillor Malcolm said: “The first thing we would do on day one would be to stop the cuts to the ten children’s centres, because they only cost a third of a million to keep,” arguing the cost of maintaining them was relatively modest.
Cleanliness across the borough is another key focus for the Lib Dems. Councillor Malcolm said: “We’ve seen our streets get dirtier and dirtier over the past couple of years.” The party says it has a costed plan to increase the frequency of street cleaning and leaf sweeping, alongside extra resources to tackle fly-tipping. It also wants to boost recycling rates, including by fully reopening Acton Recycling Centre.
Support for local businesses features prominently, particularly around parking when visiting shops. Councillor Malcolm said: “Some of the stealth parking taxes that have been introduced have made some of our shops less profitable and less viable.”
The party says it would scrap the Stop and Shop Plus scheme. Councillor Malcolm said: “We would cancel the ‘Stop and Shop Plus’, which we know has harmed a number of local shops across the borough,” adding that areas including Pitshanger Lane had been affected.
A proposed borough-wide app is also intended to support high streets. Councillor Malcolm said: “We would introduce a new Ealing app… where you could park at reduced rates if you live in the borough, but also you could shop at discounted rates for those shops that take part in it.”
On housing, the party says it would prioritise lower-rise developments over taller buildings. Councillor Malcolm said: “We would favour mansion-style block housing rather than large tower blocks… which would be acceptable around the whole borough,” adding that the aim was to protect Ealing’s reputation as the “Queen of the Suburbs”, alongside a higher proportion of what he described as “truly affordable” homes.
The Lib Dems manifesto also raises concerns about how the Ealing Council consults residents and enforces rules. Councillor Malcolm said: “So many times at the moment, you do a consultation for the council and they use the results for their own aims; they’ve already decided what they’re going to do.”
Highlighting concerns around enforcement and the way rules are applied, Councillor Malcolm said: “A constituent of mine, who’s got Stage 4 cancer… entered the zone briefly after moving a few metres forward and was given a fine, which she was unable to have cancelled,” pointing to what he described as a lack of recognition of mitigating circumstances.
The final part of the manifesto focuses on sport and youth engagement. Councillor Malcolm said: “We need to improve those and take kids off the streets, playing sport and really developing themselves.”
Looking ahead to the election, Councillor Malcolm said: “We think in the local elections to come, the Liberal Democrats are on the up… we will make gains against both the Tories and Labour.”
Full coverage of the Ealing Council local elections and candidates standing, can be found here.
