London Borough of Camden

A map showing the wards of Camden since 2002

Camden Town Hall is located in Judd Street in St Pancras. Camden London Borough Council was controlled by the Labour Party continuously from 1971 until the 2006 election, when the Liberal Democrats became the largest party. In 2006, two Green Cllrs, Maya de Souza and Adrian Oliver, were elected (to Highgate Ward) and were the first Green Party councillors in Camden. In 1985 when the borough was rate-capped, the Labour leadership joined the rebellion in which it declared its inability to set a budget in an unsuccessful attempt to force the Government to allow higher spending. Camden was the fourth to last council to drop out of the campaign, doing so in the early hours of 6 June.

Borough councillors are elected every four years. Since May 2002 the electoral wards in Camden are Belsize, Bloomsbury, Camden Town with Primrose Hill, Cantelowes, Fortune Green, Frognal and Fitzjohns, Gospel Oak, Hampstead Town, Haverstock, Highgate, Holborn and Covent Garden, Kentish Town, Kilburn, King's Cross, Regent's Park, St Pancras and Somers Town, Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead.

Between 2006 and 2010 Labour lost two seats to the Liberal Democrats through by-elections, in Kentish Town and Haverstock wards. A Labour Councillor in Haverstock ward also defected to the Liberal Democrats in February 2009. The Conservatives also lost two seats, one to the Liberal Democrats in Hampstead, and one to the Green Party, Alexander Goodman, in Highgate, taking the total number of Green Party Councillors to three. At the local elections on 6 May 2010 the Labour party regained full control of Camden council.

The organisation's staff are led by the Chief Executive who is currently Mike Cooke. The organisation is divided into five directorates:

• Housing and Adult Social Care
• Children, Schools and Families
• Culture & Environment
• Central Services:
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Strategy and Organisation Development
• Chief Executives Department

The directorates are headed by a director who reports directly to the Chief Executive. Each directorate is divided into a number of divisions headed by an assistant director. They, in turn, are divided into groups which are themselves divided into services. This is a similar model to most local government in London.

Camden forms part of the Barnet and Camden London Assembly constituency, represented by Andrew Dismore of the Labour Party

There are two parliamentary constituencies covering Camden: Hampstead and Kilburn in the north, represented by Labour's Tulip Siddiq, and Holborn and St. Pancras in the south, represented by Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party.[13]

London is well known for its greenery and the Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Camden make an important contribution to this. Hampstead Heath is well known for its view over London, notably from Parliament Hill, its wild nature and its Hampstead Heath Ponds. Camden shares Regents Park with Westminster and the views from Primrose Hill are famous.

The London Borough of Camden is the local education authority for the borough, organised through the Children, Schools and Families directorate.

Some of London's best universities and teaching institutions are located in the Borough of Camden. They include the headquarters of the University of London, Birkbeck, part of the campus of the London School of Economics near Lincoln's Inn Fields, and Central Saint Martins.

Camden is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service. There are two police stations across the borough, situated at Holborn and Kentish Town. There are various other contact points around the borough including West Hampstead, Greenland Road, Highgate Road, Station House (Swiss Cottage), West End Lane, Old Hampstead Town Hall and Kingsway College. All locations have varying opening hours with Kentish Town Police Station open to the public on a 24-hour basis.

Hampstead Heath, situated within the London Borough of Camden and managed by the City of London Corporation, has its own Constabulary who deal with everyday incidents on the Heath, however, all serious criminal offences are passed to the Metropolitan Police to investigate.

With a large London Underground network and major railway stations such as King's Cross, St Pancras and Euston, Camden also has a much larger presence of British Transport Police (BTP) than many other London boroughs. BTP are responsible for policing Great Britain's railway network.

The area has four fire stations: Belsize, Euston, Kentish Town and West Hampstead and they are operated by London Fire Brigade in the borough of Camden. None of these fire stations are home to any specialist units; only pumping appliances and a rescue tender.[27][28]

Camden is the home of the British Library. In addition, Camden has numerous libraries which include

• Swiss Cottage library
• Holborn library
• Camden Town library
• Kentish Town library
• Pancras Square library
• West Hampstead library
• Kilburn library
• Highgate library
• Queens crescent library

as well as a number of community libraries including Keats community library.

Three of the fourteen central London's railway terminals are located in the borough. Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross are the London termini for the West Coast, Midland and East Coast Main Lines and also High Speed 1. This connects the borough with the East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands, North East & West England, North Wales, Scotland, South East England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Since 14 November 2007 when St Pancras International became the new terminus of Eurostar, a major regeneration of the area has occurred with the King's Cross Central development happening behind the station.

London Overground's North London Line services run through the borough serving Camden Road, Kentish Town West, Gospel Oak, Hampstead Heath, Finchley Road & Frognal and West Hampstead. London Overground also operates the Watford DC Line services from Euston serving South Hampstead, trains continue to Watford in Hertfordshire.

Thameslink route services serve St Pancras, Kentish Town and West Hampstead Thameslink stations. Currently the Thameslink network is undergoing a major expansion project called the Thameslink Programme. This will link more places in Southern England to the borough and to the East of England. While some services on the Great Northern network, which currently terminate at King's Cross will be diverted onto the Thameslink network, all work is due to be complete by 2016.[30]

The three major rail termini are served by two underground stations, Euston and the combined King's Cross St Pancras station. Between them, the termini are served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines. The Central and Jubilee lines serve other parts of the borough, as will the new Elizabeth Line, when opened.

As well as the two major termini stations, the borough's other stations are: Euston Square, Warren Street, Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road, Holborn, Russell Square, Chancery Lane, Mornington Crescent, Camden Town, Chalk Farm, Belsize Park, Hampstead, West Hampstead, Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage and Kentish Town.

The proposed High Speed 2 railway line to northern England is intended to terminate at Euston Station.[31] The proposed Crossrail 2 line, (originally referred to as the Chelsea-Hackney line) would serve Euston and Tottenham Court Road underground stations. The increase in passengers at Euston as a result of the proposed High Speed 2 services is a major driver of the proposals.[32]

The formerly proposed Cross River Tram was going to start in the borough of Camden but was scrapped by the Mayor of London in 2008.[33]

All bus services are operated by Transport for London. Buses serve every suburb in the borough.

The 2011 census found that the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: underground, metro, light rail, tram, 21.5% of all residents aged 16–74; on foot, 9.2%; bus, minibus or coach, 9.2%; driving a car or van, 6.3%; work mainly at or from home, 5.2%; train, 4.1%; bicycle, 4.1%.[34]

The census also found that 61% of households had no car, 32% had one car and 7% of households had 2 or more cars. There were an estimated 46,000 cars belonging to Camden residents."Camden Borough Profile" (PDF).

From 16 December 2013, Camden Council introduced a borough-wide speed limit of 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), except on Transport for London red routes.[35][36] This is to make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.