1997 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

1997 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

←  1996 1 May 1997 (1997-05-01) 1999  →
All 39 seats to Southend-on-Sea Borough Council 20 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour Seats won 18 14 7 Seat change 8 4 4 Popular vote 90,624 71,766 61,792 Percentage 40.2% 31.8% 27.4% Swing 5.8% 1.1% 7.5%
Winner of each seat at the 1997 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election.
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control

The 1997 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election took place on 1 May 1997 to elect members of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council in Essex, England. This was on the same day as the 1997 general election and other local elections.

This was the first election to the council following its establishment as a unitary authority, with the council taking on the powers and responsibilities of Essex County Council for the area. Due to this, the whole council was up for election. However, the ward boundaries and number of seats remained the same.

Summary

Election result

1997 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election [1]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	18	8	46.2	0	18	46.2	90,624	40.2	+5.8
	Liberal Democrats	14	4	35.9	0	14	35.9	71,766	31.8	+1.1
	Labour	7	4	17.9	0	7	17.9	61,792	27.4	–7.5
	Ind. Conservative	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,233	0.5	N/A

Ward results

^[2]

Belfairs

Belfairs (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Aylen	3,042	48.9	+5.5
	Conservative	H. Briggs*	2,944	47.4	+4.0
	Conservative	G. Horrigan	2,915	46.9	+3.5
	Liberal Democrats	S. Pawson	2,601	41.8	–1.6
	Liberal Democrats	C. Ritchie	2,145	34.5	–8.9
	Liberal Democrats	D. Piper	2,059	33.1	–10.3
	Labour	N. Boorman	1,028	16.5	+3.2
	Labour	A. Crook	963	15.5	+2.2
	Labour	J. Norman	952	15.3	+2.0
Turnout			~7,052	76.6	+31.6
Registered electors			9,206
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats

Blenheim

Blenheim (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	G. Longley*	2,756	45.2	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	C. Mallam*	2,724	44.7	+3.7
	Liberal Democrats	B. Smith*	2,674	43.9	+2.9
	Conservative	G. Attridge	2,096	34.4	+5.0
	Conservative	P. Collins	2,024	33.2	+3.8
	Conservative	G. Hart	1,974	32.4	+3.0
	Labour	T. Merrison	1,417	23.3	–6.2
	Labour	J. Clinkscales	1,378	22.6	–6.9
	Labour	M. Terry	1,235	20.3	–9.2
Turnout			~6,267	66.8	+25.2
Registered electors			9,382
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Chalkwell

Chalkwell (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Latham*	2,400	42.7	–0.4
	Liberal Democrats	B. Lister-Smith*	2,368	42.1	–1.9
	Conservative	E. Sullivan	2,151	38.3	–4.8
	Conservative	B. Trevelyan	2,149	38.2	–4.9
	Liberal Democrats	D. Durant	2,050	36.5	–7.5
	Liberal Democrats	A. Miller	1,812	32.2	–11.8
	Ind. Conservative	J. Tobin	1,233	21.9	N/A
	Labour	D. Homer	959	17.1	+4.2
	Labour	M. Humphrey	957	17.0	+4.1
	Labour	N. Waymark	784	13.9	+1.0
Turnout			~6,343	64.7	+30.9
Registered electors			9,804
	Conservative hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Conservative hold

Eastwood

Eastwood (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	N. Goodman*	3,314	48.7	+7.0
	Conservative	R. Weaver	2,763	40.6	+4.4
	Conservative	C. Walker	2,714	39.9	+3.7
	Liberal Democrats	M. Betson*	2,696	39.6	–2.1
	Liberal Democrats	R. Fisher*	2,579	37.9	–3.8
	Conservative	B. Horrigan	2,556	37.6	+1.4
	Labour	V. Knights	1,312	19.3	–2.8
	Labour	A. Monteith	1,263	18.6	–3.5
	Labour	G. Noakes	1,218	17.9	–4.2
Turnout			~7,719	71.8	+37.0
Registered electors			10,750
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats

Leigh

Leigh (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	A. Crystall*	3,052	49.7	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	P. Wexham*	2,884	46.9	–1.0
	Liberal Democrats	A. Smulian*	2,581	42.0	–5.9
	Conservative	J. Lamb	2,338	38.1	+9.7
	Conservative	J. Rowswell	2,207	35.9	+7.5
	Conservative	L. Salter	2,121	34.5	+6.1
	Labour	P. Circus	1,220	19.9	–3.8
	Labour	A. Denny	1,024	16.7	–7.0
	Labour	D. Norman	1,006	16.4	–7.3
Turnout			~6,614	70.6	+35.3
Registered electors			9,368
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Milton

Milton (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Davy	1,753	41.2	+6.9
	Labour	K. Lee*	1,751	41.2	–13.5
	Conservative	J. Lambert	1,747	41.1	+6.8
	Labour	P. Hawkins*	1,725	40.6	–14.1
	Labour	L. Felton*	1,678	39.5	–15.2
	Conservative	A. Khwaja	1,503	35.3	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	J. Overy	937	22.0	+11.0
	Liberal Democrats	L. Smith	843	19.8	+8.8
	Liberal Democrats	T. Ray	819	19.3	+8.3
Turnout			~4,849	52.6	+27.1
Registered electors			9,219
	Conservative gain from Labour
	Labour hold
	Conservative gain from Labour

Prittlewell

Prittlewell (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	M. Miller*	2,570	47.0	–9.0
	Liberal Democrats	N. Baker	2,505	45.9	–10.1
	Liberal Democrats	D. Elf*	2,489	45.6	–10.4
	Conservative	B. Houssart	1,732	31.7	+6.1
	Conservative	H. Houssart	1,633	29.9	+4.3
	Conservative	P. Manser	1,564	28.6	+3.0
	Labour	L. Harley	1,517	27.8	+9.4
	Labour	P. White	1,199	22.0	+3.6
	Labour	Z. Chaudhri	1,178	21.6	+3.2
Turnout			~5,822	62.4	+30.8
Registered electors			9,330
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

Shoebury

Shoebury (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Ascroft*	4,561	53.6	+14.2
	Conservative	A. North	3,894	45.8	+6.4
	Conservative	V. Wilson	3,621	42.6	+3.2
	Labour	L. Wisken*	3,317	39.0	–11.6
	Labour	D. Singh	2,650	31.1	–19.5
	Labour	R. Kennedy*	2,131	25.0	–25.6
	Liberal Democrats	C. Cooper	1,947	22.9	+12.9
	Liberal Democrats	A. Newton	1,761	20.7	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats	S. Newton	1,646	19.3	+9.3
Turnout			~10,157	65.6	+39.3
Registered electors			15,483
	Conservative hold
	Conservative gain from Labour
	Conservative gain from Labour

Southchurch

Southchurch (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Garston*	3,095	56.0	+5.9
	Conservative	A. Holland*	2,940	53.2	+3.1
	Conservative	B. Kelly	2,814	50.9	+0.8
	Labour	R. Merton	1,899	34.4	–3.8
	Labour	D. Garne	1,568	28.4	–9.8
	Labour	I. Pope	1,419	25.7	–12.5
	Liberal Democrats	J. Davis	1,044	18.9	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	P. De Gregorio Macdonald	930	16.8	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	M. Woolcott	873	15.8	+4.1
Turnout			~6,249	68.0	+36.9
Registered electors			9,189
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

St. Luke's

St. Luke's (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Copley*	2,400	54.0	–12.7
	Labour	J. Mapp*	2,132	47.9	–18.8
	Labour	M. Royston	1,981	44.5	–22.2
	Conservative	E. Hodgson	1,503	33.8	+12.1
	Conservative	J. Garston	1,486	33.4	+11.7
	Conservative	C. Langlands	1,442	32.4	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats	A. Smith	921	20.7	+9.1
	Liberal Democrats	J. Skinner	823	18.5	+6.9
	Liberal Democrats	D. Wainwright	654	14.7	+3.1
Turnout			~5,155	60.0	+32.4
Registered electors			8,592
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Thorpe

Thorpe (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. White*	3,483	59.5	+0.9
	Conservative	S. Ayre*	3,447	58.9	+0.3
	Conservative	S. Carr*	3,421	58.5	–0.1
	Labour	G. Farrer	1,453	24.8	–1.1
	Labour	W. McIntyre	1,408	24.1	–1.8
	Labour	W. Vanderburg	1,267	21.7	–4.2
	Liberal Democrats	M. Clark	1,136	19.4	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	D. Holliday	1,015	17.4	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	J. Pilgrim	918	15.7	+0.2
Turnout			~6,719	66.7	–38.0
Registered electors			10,073
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Victoria

Victoria (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Dunn*	2,907	55.7	–14.9
	Labour	R. Crisp*	2,657	50.9	–19.7
	Labour	C. Dandridge*	2,623	50.2	–20.4
	Conservative	P. Jones	1,706	32.7	+13.7
	Conservative	D. Ayre	1,697	32.5	+13.5
	Conservative	K. Norris	1,669	32.0	+13.0
	Liberal Democrats	P. Collins	856	16.4	+6.2
	Liberal Democrats	C. Etherington	806	15.4	+5.2
	Liberal Democrats	C. Verney	741	14.2	+4.0
Turnout			~5,471	56.3	+29.8
Registered electors			9,717
	Labour hold
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Westborough

Westborough (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	J. Sibley*	2,501	50.1	–1.6
	Liberal Democrats	M. Lubel*	2,498	50.1	–1.6
	Liberal Democrats	H. Gibeon*	2,238	44.8	–6.9
	Labour	B. Neal	1,429	28.6	–4.7
	Labour	M. Flewitt	1,400	28.1	–5.2
	Labour	P. Hannan	1,387	27.8	–5.5
	Conservative	S. Compton	1,287	25.8	+10.9
	Conservative	R. Brown	1,149	23.0	+8.1
	Conservative	M. Samuel	1,083	21.7	+6.8
Turnout			~5,590	62.9	+33.1
Registered electors			8,887
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold
	Liberal Democrats hold

References

1. "Composition calculator". Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher . Elections Centre, Plymouth University . Retrieved 9 September 2025.
2. "Southend-on-Sea Borough Council Election Results 1997-2012" (PDF). electionscentre.co.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2020.