Leyland was elected to Camden London Borough Council in 2010 to represent Belsize, and won the seat back from the Liberal Democrats. She became the leader of the Conservatives in 2013 (when they were the third largest party) and became the leader of the opposition in 2014, when the Liberal Democrats lost all but one seat. As leader of the opposition, she made national news by advocating more CCTV in Belsize Park,[6] and criticising Camden Council for spending money on publicising the fact it had no money.[7]
At the 2015 general election, Leyland stood as the Conservative candidate for West Tyrone in Northern Ireland. She came eighth and lost her deposit, being just three votes ahead of the last-placed candidate.[8] It was the party's sixth-lowest vote share at that election.[9]