Those watching for signs of upheaval in Kensington and Chelsea Council will have their eyes fixed on the votes coming from the south of the borough in the local election polls .
The royal borough is often described as the Conservative Party 's 'crown jewel,' but it faces a challenge from an emboldened Labour which is hoping to grab Tory safe-seats across London.
Whatever the outcome at Thursday's (May 3) count, there will be fresh faces, as 22 Conservatives opted not to defend their seats - among them former leader Nick Paget-Brown, who stepped down following criticism of the council's handling of the Grenfell tragedy .
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Under his successor Elizabeth Campbell, the party is campaigning on the Tories' record of providing services such as twice-weekly bin collections, and keeping council taxes low.
The past fortnight's hustings have brought promises from eight rival parties: from cleaner air solutions, to more police on the streets and a crackdown on empty luxury flats.
At the St Helen's hustings on Tuesday evening (May 1), one local resident, Pat Gorda, said he had taken little interest in local politics until Grenfell, but now he and his wife attend every meeting they can.
Mr Gorda said he would vote Labour, adding that he hopes to see major upheaval in the council ranks in response to the tragedy.
He said: "I think it’s a microcosm of the borough, probably of the country to be honest, that have had big divisions in inequality."
St Helen's resident Tracy Sanders declined to reveal her voting preference after the the hustings, but said she wanted to see councillors focus on hyper-local issues. She was particularly concerned about plans to close Notting Hill's police station .
"There’s no officers constantly there, no visual presence of the police, and I think people become isolated and unable to report things," she said.
Whatever the outcome of the election, she hoped to see a change in party politicking.
Ms Sanders added: "They are fighting like cats and dogs. I think finally they should come to some decision to talk amongst themselves in a rational way - they should sensibly [debate] things. It seems to be party struggles between councillors rather than what’s being said in the community.”
Leader of the Labour Group, Robert Atkinson, said in his 30 years in local politics he had never seen Labour door-knock so widely: “We are campaigning in areas we haven’t campaigned in in decades.”
Last year, Emma Dent Coad became the first Labour MP to represent Kensington , winning by 20 votes.
Jeremy Corbyn has been backing the campaign to win blue council seats for Labour too, with supporters from Momentum surging through key battleground wards over the past weekend.
Mr Atkinson said the party’s hopes were focused on forging inroads in Norland, Pembridge, Earl’s Court and Chelsea Riverside - although he doubted they could budge veterans like Liberal Democrat Linda Wade in Earl’s Court.
He said Labour had kept its distance from the area surrounding Grenfell, wary of being seen to be trying to use anger over the tragedy to its advantage on election night.
“We have gone to a great deal of trouble to ensure that we don’t, and I think we can’t have been seen to have ‘played’ Grenfell; it has been specifically raised by voters in all parts of the borough.”
Melvyn Akins, a community campaigner who grew up on a council estate in Grenfell’s shadow, is a newcomer to local politics, and is standing as a candidate for new party Advance Together, which is fielding 14 candidates across 18 wards.
Mr Akins said he views Advance as an opportunity for voters to reject two-party politics and invite diverse voices into the council chambers.
"There’s a huge population of people in the borough who feel marginalised, disenfranchised, and unheard," he said.
For many in North Kensington, the handling of the fire was a "final straw," and survivors were talking about change, Akins added.
“They feel that all of the councillors - all fifty - have let them down."
The Conservative Party's leadership and headquarters were contacted for interviews but did not respond by deadline.
