1988 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

1988 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

←  1987 5 May 1988 (1988-05-05) 1990  →
14 out of 39 seats to Southend-on-Sea Borough Council 20 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party SLD Conservative Labour Seats won 5 8 1 Seats after 18 16 5 Seat change 1 2 1 Popular vote 18,633 25,899 8,363 Percentage 35.2% 49.0% 15.8% Swing 7.0% 4.5% 2.7%
Winner of each seat at the 1988 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election.
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control

The 1988 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election took place on 5 May 1988 to elect members of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council in Essex, England. ^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections.

Summary

Election result

1988 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	SLD	5	1	35.7	13	18	46.2	18,633	35.2	–7.0
	Conservative	8	2	57.1	8	16	41.0	25,899	49.0	+4.5
	Labour	1	1	7.1	4	5	12.8	8,363	15.8	+2.7

Ward results

Incumbent councillors standing for re-election are marked with an asterisk (*). Changes in seats do not take into account by-elections or defections.

Belfairs

Belfairs

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SLD	N. Hall	2,129	49.5	+0.7
	SLD	S. Pawson	2,100	48.8	±0.0
	Conservative	J. Rowswell	2,030	47.2	+2.0
	Conservative	E. Sullivan	1,821	42.3	–2.9
	Labour	K. Stone	275	6.4	+0.3
	Labour	G. Farrer	246	5.7	–0.4
Turnout			~4,301	47.6	+1.3
Registered electors			9,035
	SLD hold
	SLD hold

Blenheim

Blenheim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	N. Clarke*	1,900	45.5	+1.5
	SLD	C. Mallam	1,833	43.9	–2.1
	Labour	N. Boorman	443	10.6	+0.7
Majority			67	1.6	N/A
Turnout			4,176	42.4	–3.9
Registered electors			9,849
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.8

Chalkwell

Chalkwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Tobin*	2,049	53.6	+3.8
	SLD	E. Bunclark	1,463	38.2	–5.8
	Labour	L. Davidson	314	8.2	+2.1
Majority			586	15.3	+9.5
Turnout			3,826	40.0	–8.1
Registered electors			11,217
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.8

Eastwood

Eastwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Weaver	2,168	51.1	+9.0
	SLD	N. Goodman*	1,747	41.2	–9.2
	Labour	M. Fletcher	325	7.7	+1.4
Majority			421	9.9	N/A
Turnout			4,240	37.8	–8.4
Registered electors			11,217
	Conservative gain from SLD		Swing	9.1

Leigh

Leigh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SLD	N. Redican	2,161	48.8	–1.2
	Conservative	H. Stennett	1,916	43.3	+0.8
	Labour	K. Lee	349	7.9	+0.4
Majority			245	5.5	–2.0
Turnout			4,426	46.5	–5.2
Registered electors			9,518
	SLD hold		Swing	1.0

Milton

Milton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Baum*	1,388	52.5	+4.2
	Labour	D. Garne	630	23.8	+9.1
	SLD	J. Overy	624	23.6	–13.4
Majority			519	28.7	+17.3
Turnout			2,642	29.9	–9.5
Registered electors			8,836
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.3

Prittlewell

Prittlewell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SLD	P. Herbert*	1,931	51.4	–4.3
	Conservative	S. Houghton	1,412	37.6	+2.3
	Labour	M. Howells	416	11.1	+2.2
Majority			519	13.8	–6.6
Turnout			3,759	38.0	–8.2
Registered electors			9,892
	SLD hold		Swing	3.3

Shoebury

Shoebury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. North*	2,707	63.7	+11.4
	Labour	H. Mapp	956	22.5	+5.2
	SLD	C. Samson	587	13.8	–16.6
Majority			1,751	41.2	+19.3
Turnout			4,250	32.0	–8.8
Registered electors			13,281
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.1

Southchurch

Southchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Lockhart*	2,117	62.4	+14.8
	Labour	M. McIntyre	693	20.4	+8.5
	SLD	J. Kaufman	583	17.2	–23.2
Majority			1,424	42.0	+34.8
Turnout			3,393	35.1	–11.8
Registered electors			9,667
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.2

St Lukes

St Lukes

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Copley*	1,530	47.9	+20.3
	Conservative	G. Shaw	1,033	32.3	–1.7
	SLD	R. More	631	19.8	–18.7
Majority			497	15.6	N/A
Turnout			3,194	37.8	–3.3
Registered electors			8,450
	Labour hold		Swing	11.0

Thorpe

Thorpe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Ayre*	2,370	65.7	+3.6
	SLD	C. Sweet	746	20.7	–5.1
	Labour	T. Sandall	490	13.6	+1.5
Majority			1,624	45.0	+8.7
Turnout			3,606	35.1	–7.3
Registered electors			10,274
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.4

Victoria

Victoria

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Hurst*	1,911	53.1	+19.1
	Labour	R. Davy	1,214	33.7	–5.5
	SLD	N. Baker	475	13.2	–13.6
Majority			697	19.4	N/A
Turnout			3,600	36.2	–4.5
Registered electors			9,945
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	12.3

Westborough

Westborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SLD	M. Clark	1,623	51.0	+0.9
	Conservative	M. Myers	1,077	33.8	–3.7
	Labour	A. Howe	482	15.1	+2.7
Majority			546	17.2	+4.7
Turnout			3,182	34.3	–12.2
Registered electors			9,277
	SLD hold		Swing	2.3

References

1. "Southend-on-Sea Borough Council Election Results 1973-1996" (PDF). Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher . Elections Centre, Plymouth University . Retrieved 9 September 2025.