2003 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

The 2003 Southend-on-Sea Council election took place on 1 May 2003 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 32
• Labour 10
• Liberal Democrat 8
• Independent 1 ^[2]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives keep control of the council with a slightly reduced majority of 13 seats. ^[3] The only changes saw the Conservatives lose one seat to the Liberal Democrats in St Laurence ward and an independent candidate gain Westborough from the Labour party. ^[3]

Southend-on-Sea Local Election Result 2003 ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	10	0	1	-1	58.8	47.8	14,795	+1.5%
	Liberal Democrats	3	1	0	+1	17.6	28.0	8,672	+6.7%
	Labour	3	0	1	-1	17.6	18.6	5,767	-2.4%
	Independent	1	1	0	+1	5.9	2.3	706	-7.2%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	2.4	754	+0.5%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	0.8	249	+0.8%

Ward results

Belfairs ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Julie Cushion	1,113	50.5	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Grimwade	860	39.0	+9.2
	Labour	Tony Borton	230	10.4	-0.7
Majority			253	11.5	-9.0
Turnout			2,203	30.3	-3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blenheim Park ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	James Clinkscales	888	44.0	-1.7
	Conservative	Ian Robertson	835	41.3	+3.4
	Labour	Charles Willis	297	14.7	-1.8
Majority			53	2.6	-5.2
Turnout			2,020	27.0	-1.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Chalkwell ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Latham	1,155	62.2	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Gage	435	23.4	+4.8
	Labour	Lydia Sookias	266	14.3	+0.5
Majority			720	38.8	-2.4
Turnout			1,856	25.9	-1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Eastwood Park ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Weaver	1,078	51.3	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Norah Goodman	841	40.0	+6.7
	Labour	Raoul Meade	184	8.7	-0.5
Majority			237	11.3	-4.6
Turnout			2,103	28.0	-5.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kursaal ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen George	644	51.5	+1.8
	Conservative	Judith Smithson	383	30.6	-4.5
	Liberal Democrats	George Lewin	224	17.9	+2.7
Majority			261	20.9	+6.3
Turnout			1,251	18.5	-0.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Leigh ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Wrexham	1,335	61.2	+15.8
	Conservative	Simon Gutteridge	573	26.3	-7.7
	Green	Dawn Arno	138	6.3	+6.3
	Labour	Helen Beckett	134	6.1	-3.0
Majority			762	35.0	+23.6
Turnout			2,180	31.1	-2.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Milton ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Garston	785	52.1	-2.2
	Labour	Ian Gilbert	403	26.7	-8.0
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Clark	201	13.3	+13.3
	Green	Steve Flynn	118	7.8	-3.2
Majority			382	25.3	+5.6
Turnout			1,507	22.2	-5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Prittlewell ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Murray Foster	962	47.3	+14.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Adams	695	34.2	+5.2
	Labour	Margaret Borton	245	12.1	-2.3
	Green	Andrea Black	131	6.4	+6.4
Majority			267	13.1	+9.0
Turnout			2,033	27.0	-7.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Laurence ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Carole Roast	925	47.8	+18.2
	Conservative	Michael Dolby	738	38.1	+6.6
	Labour	Paul White	272	14.1	+1.3
Majority			187	9.7
Turnout			1,935	26.2	-7.5
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

St Lukes ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin Robinson	590	42.9	-7.5
	Conservative	Melvyn Day	525	38.2	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Marion Boulton	155	11.3	+11.3
	Green	Cristian Ramis	105	7.6	-4.8
Majority			65	4.7	-8.4
Turnout			1,375	18.0	-3.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Shoeburyness ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Rayner	810	56.7	+19.0
	Labour	Anne Chalk	472	33.0	+6.3
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Spraggs	147	10.3	+4.6
Majority			338	23.7	+15.9
Turnout			1,429	19.6	-4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Southchurch ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ann Holland	1,258	71.8	+11.1
	Labour	Darius Ware-Lane	264	15.1	-1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Ray	229	13.1	+4.9
Majority			994	56.8	+12.8
Turnout			1,751	24.8	-5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Thorpe ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Delaney	1,456	75.1	-0.4
	Labour	John Townsend	248	12.8	-2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Smith	235	12.1	+2.4
Majority			1,208	62.3	+1.6
Turnout			1,939	27.3	-5.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Victoria ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Norman	667	45.8	-11.5
	Conservative	Anthony Smithson	308	21.1	-12.2
	BNP	Graham John	249	17.1	+17.1
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Collins	142	9.7	+9.7
	Green	Adrian Hedges	91	6.2	-3.2
Majority			359	24.6	+0.6
Turnout			1,457	21.9	-0.8
	Labour hold		Swing

West Leigh ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Howard Briggs	1,417	57.4	-3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Albert Wren	821	33.2	+1.5
	Labour	Joyce Mapp	118	4.8	-2.3
	Green	Doris Thomas	114	4.6	+4.6
Majority			596	24.1	-5.5
Turnout			2,470	36.2	-4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Shoebury ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Jarvis	1,173	69.0	+5.2
	Labour	Julian Ware-Lane	340	20.0	-7.9
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Spraggs	187	11.0	+2.7
Majority			833	49.0	+13.0
Turnout			1,700	23.3	-5.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westborough ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Martin Terry	640	36.9	+11.4
	Labour	Marimuthu Velmurugan	393	22.7	-4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Ritchie	352	20.3	-3.4
	Conservative	Emma Hill	226	13.0	-4.6
	Independent	Trevor Oakley	66	3.8	+3.8
	Green	Rita Wood	57	3.3	-2.8
Majority			247	14.2
Turnout			1,734	25.1	-0.2
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

References

1. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 4 April 2010.
2. "How Britain voted: English and Scottish councils". The Independent . 3 May 2003. p. 18.
3. "South Essex: It's a blue day as Tories run riot". Echo. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 4 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
4. "Southend-on-Sea Borough Council: Borough Council Election" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 4 April 2010.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
5. "Election results; English Councils; Local elections 2003". The Times . 2 May 2003. p. 16.