“The battle is Partygate versus low council tax'

PM's lockdown breaches and cost of living crisis leave Wandsworth on aknife edge after decades in Tory hands

- Miranda Bryant and Michael Savage

In many ways, the London borough of Wandsworth is a paradigm of the modern capital. On one hand, it is a place where a teenager recently fainted from hunger in a food bank queue. And on the other, it is home to the "sky pool”, a spectacular transparent swimming pool suspended 10 storeys above ground, reserved exclusively for the development's richest residents.

The borough is also known for its comparatively low council tax - which, its Conservative-run council boasts, is the lowest average council tax in the country. Wandsworth also claims to be the only local authority in London cutting its share of council tax bills.

“You look at the housing down here and wonder: 'How much is for normal people?' It looks like investment housing more than anything else," said Yahan Lewis, 53, after a visit to the job centre. "I always think it's the money borough. It's all about money. They keep the rates low and people vote for them.”

Perhaps that is why, after more than four decades in charge of Wandsworth council, the Tories have proved immovable. Despite all three of its parliamentary constituencies being held by Labour - the Tories lost Battersea to Labour in 2017 and Putney two years later - and residents voting for Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, the council has remained firmly in Tory hands.