2007 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

The 2007 Southend-on-Sea Council election took place on 3 May 2007 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 30
• Liberal Democrat 10
• Labour 7
• Independent 4 ^[2]

Election result

The results saw the Conservatives retain control of the council with a majority of 9 seats over the other parties. ^[3] The former leader of the council, Anna Waite, who had been defeated in the 2006 election, was returned to the council in St Luke's ward after defeating the Labour councillor Kevin Robinson. ^[4] However the Conservatives lost a usually safe seat in Thorpe to independent Ron Woodley by 791 votes. ^[5]

For the second election in a row a Conservative leader of the council was defeated. ^{[6] [7]} Murray Foster was defeated in Prittlewell ward by Liberal Democrat Ric Morgan, forcing the Conservatives to choose a new leader. ^[6] Nigel Holdcroft was unopposed within the Conservative group and became the new leader of the council. ^[6]

Overall turnout in the election was 31%. ^[8]

Southend-on-Sea Local Election Result 2007 ^{[2] [9]}

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	2	2	0	52.9	40.9	16,024	-1.3%
	Liberal Democrats	4	1	0	+1	23.5	22.1	8,656	-3.7%
	Labour	2	0	1	-1	11.8	15.7	6,156	+3.0%
	Independent	2	1	1	0	11.8	10.9	4,260	+1.8%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	6.0	2,334	+1.4%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	2.4	926	-0.6%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	1.7	667	-0.3%
	Mums' Army	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	115	+0.0%

Ward results

Belfairs ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lesley Salter	1,240	47.5	+1.5
	Independent	Maria Jeffery	822	31.5	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Streeter	361	13.8	-9.7
	Labour	Gary Farrer	189	7.2	+7.2
Majority			418	16.0	+0.5
Turnout			2,612	35.6	-4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blenheim Park ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Clinkscales	982	40.4	+1.5
	Conservative	Brian Houssart	745	30.7	-0.7
	BNP	Raymond Weaver	284	11.7	+11.7
	Labour	Teresa Merrison	257	10.6	-1.5
	UKIP	Peggy Walker	162	6.7	-11.0
Majority			237	9.8	+2.3
Turnout			2,430	31.8	-2.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Chalkwell ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Hebermel	1,179	54.4	-2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Mallam	357	16.5	-11.4
	Labour	Joan Richards	254	11.7	-4.0
	UKIP	Toni Thornes	217	10.0	+10.0
	Green	Michael Woodgate	162	7.5	+7.5
Majority			822	37.9	+9.4
Turnout			2,169	29.6	-3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Eastwood Park ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jason Luty	1,425	63.4	+4.3
	Liberal Democrats	Tracey Browne	521	23.2	-8.7
	Labour	Raoul Meade	303	13.5	+4.5
Majority			904	40.2	+13.0
Turnout			2,249	30.0	-5.0
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Kursaal ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen George	715	39.9	+4.6
	Conservative	Blaine Robin	538	30.0	+1.6
	BNP	Dean Fenner	276	15.4	-5.8
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Cartwright	265	14.8	-0.3
Majority			177	9.9	+2.9
Turnout			1,794	24.9	-2.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Leigh ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Wexham	1,414	63.7	+12.3
	Conservative	Bernard Arscott	649	29.2	-4.8
	Labour	Ian Gilbert	158	7.1	+7.1
Majority			765	34.4	+17.1
Turnout			2,221	31.0	-5.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Milton ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Garston	837	44.3	+4.3
	Labour	Clive Rebbeck	528	28.0	+6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Collins	187	9.9	-3.3
	Independent	John Bacon	134	7.1	-8.5
	Green	Stephen Jordan	125	6.6	-3.6
	Independent	David Aitken	77	4.1	+4.1
Majority			309	16.4	-2.5
Turnout			1,888	26.5	-3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Prittlewell ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ric Morgan	1,056	41.6	+0.7
	Conservative	Murray Foster	960	37.8	+1.5
	UKIP	John Croft	288	11.4	-6.6
	Labour	Llynus Pigrem	233	9.2	+9.2
Majority			96	3.8	-0.7
Turnout			2,537	34.0	-3.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

St Laurence ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Carole Roast	1,046	43.9	-11.9
	Conservative	Pam Farley	900	37.8	-6.4
	Labour	Reginald Copley	288	12.1	+12.1
	Green	Daniel Lee	150	6.3	+6.3
Majority			146	6.1	-5.4
Turnout			2,384	31.7	-1.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

St Lukes ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anna Waite	784	33.2	+8.3
	Labour	Kevin Robinson	767	32.4	-0.6
	BNP	Geoffrey Strobridge	442	18.7	-3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Ayling	222	9.4	-2.6
	Green	Cristian Ramis	150	6.3	-1.8
Majority			17	0.7
Turnout			2,365	29.5	-1.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Shoeburyness ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pat Rayner	788	33.5
	Independent	Mike Assenheim	658	28.0
	Labour	Anne Chalk	481	20.5
	BNP	John Moss	315	13.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Dresner	107	4.6
Majority			130	5.5
Turnout			2,349	30.3	-0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Southchurch ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ann Holland	1,280	54.3	+4.0
	BNP	Fenton Bowley	367	15.6	-3.4
	Labour	Joyce Mapp	302	12.8	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Wexham	261	11.1	-0.6
	Green	Stuart Salmon	148	6.3	-0.6
Majority			913	38.7	+7.3
Turnout			2,358	33.1	-3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Thorpe ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Ron Woodley	1,801	53.8	+24.0
	Conservative	Nigel Folkard	1,009	30.2	-12.1
	Liberal Democrats	Howard Gibeon	365	10.9	-10.1
	Labour	Chris Gasper	170	5.1	-1.7
Majority			792	23.7
Turnout			3,345	46.3	+2.0
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Victoria ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Norman	744	43.4	+4.9
	Conservative	Roger Kemp	442	25.8	+1.4
	BNP	Alisdair Lewis	277	16.2	-3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Ronella Streeter	252	14.7	-2.8
Majority			302	17.6	+3.5
Turnout			1,715	24.3	-2.6
	Labour hold		Swing

West Leigh ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gwen Horrigan	1,626	59.7
	Liberal Democrats	Albert Wren	755	27.7
	Green	Paul Circus	191	7.0
	Labour	Jane Norman	150	5.5
Majority			871	32.0
Turnout			2,722	39.3	-5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Shoebury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Jarvis	1,250	54.4	+10.6
	BNP	Terence Jellis	373	16.2	+2.8
	Labour	Lars Davidsson	308	13.4	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Betson	251	10.9	+3.5
	Mums' Army	Linda Martin	115	5.0	-0.2
Majority			877	38.2	+11.4
Turnout			2,297	31.0	-5.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westborough ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Martin Terry	768	45.1	+9.6
	Conservative	Stephen Buckley	372	21.8	+1.3
	Labour	Tony Borton	309	18.1	-2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Vincent	254	14.9	-8.3
Majority			396	23.3	+11.0
Turnout			1,703	23.3	-3.7
	Independent hold		Swing

References

1. "Southend-On-Sea". BBC News Online . Retrieved 7 April 2010.
2. "Election 2007 Results". The Times . 4 May 2007. p. 8.
3. "Councillor, 18, 'youngest in UK'". BBC News Online . 4 May 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
4. "Updated: Waite makes comeback". Echo. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
5. "Independent snatches key Tory seat". Echo. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
6. "New council leader confirmed". Echo. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
7. "Council leader kicked out". Echo. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}
8. "Local Election Results 2007". Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2010.
9. "Southend-on-Sea Borough Council: Borough Council Election" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 7 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}