2002 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

The 2002 Southend-on-Sea Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Southend-on-Sea Unitary Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 33
• Labour 11
• Liberal Democrat 7 ^[2]

Campaign

The election saw a group of seven campaigners stand as independent candidates in the election. ^[3] They described themselves as "the magnificent seven" and were standing in protest against plans to widen Prioy Crescent and to move St Laurence Church in Eastwood. ^[3]

Election result

The results saw no seats change hands so the Conservatives kept control as a result with 35 of the 51 seats on the council. ^[4]

Southend-on-Sea Local Election Result 2002 ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	11	0	0	0	64.7	46.3	16,732	-0.6%
	Labour	4	0	0	0	23.5	21.0	7,586	-6.9%
	Liberal Democrats	2	0	0	0	11.8	21.3	7,687	-2.7%
	Independent	0	0	0	0	0	9.5	3,417	+8.8%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	1.9	683	+1.4%

Ward results

Belfairs ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Evans	1,246	50.3
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Grimwade	739	29.8
	Labour	Linda Cook	274	11.1
	Independent	Michael Downer	219	8.8
Majority			507	20.5
Turnout			2,478	34.2	-28.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blenheim Park ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Smith	988	45.7
	Conservative	Peter Collins	819	37.9
	Labour	Charles Willis	356	16.5
Majority			169	7.8
Turnout			2,163	28.9	-26.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Chalkwell ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Brown	1,217	59.8
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Alexander	379	18.6
	Labour	Lydia Sookias	280	13.8
	Independent	Donald Weedon	160	7.9
Majority			838	41.2
Turnout			2,036	27.8	-25.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Eastwood Park ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Moring	1,236	49.2
	Liberal Democrats	Nora Goodman	837	33.3
	Labour	Julian Ware-Lane	232	9.2
	Independent	Keith Richardson	206	8.2
Majority			399	15.9
Turnout			2,511	33.7	-25.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kursaal ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julian McMahon	648	49.7
	Conservative	Judith Smithson	458	35.1
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Smith	199	15.2
Majority			190	14.6
Turnout			1,305	18.9	-23.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Leigh ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel Baker	1,068	45.4
	Conservative	Terence Gray	800	34.0
	Independent	Douglas Copping	268	11.4
	Labour	Vera Norman	215	9.1
Majority			268	11.4
Turnout			2,351	33.2	-26.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Milton ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ann Robertson	1,069	54.3
	Labour	Lilias Felton	682	34.7
	Green	William Ferrett	216	11.0
Majority			387	19.7
Turnout			1,967	27.5	-19.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Prittlewell ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anna Waite	851	33.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Adams	745	29.0
	Independent	Peter Walker	602	23.4
	Labour	Margaret Borton	370	14.4
Majority			106	4.1
Turnout			2,568	34.0	-24.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Laurence ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Houssart	796	31.5
	Liberal Democrats	Carole Roast	749	29.6
	Independent	Adrian Sinclair-McCall	661	26.1
	Labour	Paul White	325	12.8
Majority			47	1.9
Turnout			2,531	33.7	-33.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Lukes ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Royston	848	50.4
	Conservative	Ellen Hodgson	627	37.3
	Green	Adrian Hedges	208	12.4
Majority			221	13.1
Turnout			1,683	21.9	-30.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Shoeburyness ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Cole	675	37.7
	Independent	Roger Hadley	535	29.9
	Labour	Anne Chalk	479	26.7
	Liberal Democrats	Marion Boulton	103	5.7
Majority			140	7.8
Turnout			1,792	24.5	-26.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Southchurch ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Kelly	1,290	60.7
	Labour	Joyce Mapp	354	16.7
	Independent	Susan Richardson	306	14.4
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Gage	175	8.2
Majority			936	44.0
Turnout			2,125	29.9	-27.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Thorpe ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Daphne White	1,765	75.5
	Labour	John Townsend	346	14.8
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Ray	226	9.7
Majority			1,419	60.7
Turnout			2,337	32.5	-31.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Victoria ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jane Norman	906	57.3
	Conservative	Paul Jones	526	33.3
	Green	Andrew Vaughan	149	9.4
Majority			380	24.0
Turnout			1,581	22.7	-29.7
	Labour hold		Swing

West Leigh ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gwendoline Horrigan	1,692	61.2
	Liberal Democrats	Albert Wren	875	31.7
	Labour	Raoul Meade	196	7.1
Majority			817	29.6
Turnout			2,763	40.5	-26.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Shoebury ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Verina Wilson	1,347	63.8
	Labour	George Saville	588	27.9
	Liberal Democrats	Geoffrey Goldsmith	176	8.3
Majority			759	36.0
Turnout			2,111	28.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westborough ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Teresa Merrison	487	27.0
	Independent	Martin Terry	460	25.5
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Ritchie	428	23.7
	Conservative	Mark Newman	318	17.6
	Green	Rita Wood	110	6.1
Majority			27	1.5
Turnout			1,803	25.3	-23.2
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Southend-on-Sea". BBC News Online . Retrieved 2 April 2010.
2. "Election results; Local Election". The Times . 4 May 2002. p. 16.
3. "Southend: 'Magnificent Seven' set for battle at polls". Daily Gazette. 11 April 2002.
4. "Southend: Tory triumph". Echo. 3 May 2002.^{[ dead link ]}
5. "Southend Borough Council: Borough Council Election" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 2 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}