Facts and Figures

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea covers 4.69 square miles and has a resident population of 180,300 (Office of National Statistics 2008). Kensington and Chelsea is one of two Royal Boroughs in Greater London, the other is the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

The most densely populated local authority in the United Kingdom (2001 census). It contains some of the most expensive residential districts in the country. Its population has the longest period of life expectancy at birth, out of all the local authorities in the country (ONS 2006-08). For men this is 84.3 years and for women 88.9 years. In each case more than ten years longer than for people in local authorities with the lowest period of life expectancy.

Kensington and Chelsea is ranked 101 out of 354 local authorities in England in terms of average deprivation. (Where 1 is most deprived). There are 103 Super Output Areas (SOAs) in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and 9 of those are in the top 10% most deprived.

As of Feb 2010 it has X registered voters; the Council is led by the Conservatives and the official opposition is Labour. Elections are held every four years. During the course of this booklet we will try to explain how the powers and responsibilities that affect the borough are distributed; how democratic structures work, how these can be accessed and also provide you with other useful information.