2008 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

The 2008 Southend-on-Sea Council election took place on 1 May 2008 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 27
• Liberal Democrat 11
• Independent 7
• Labour 6 ^[2]

Campaign

Before the election the Conservatives ran the council with 29 seats, compared to 10 for the Liberal Democrats, 7 Labour and 5 independents. ^[3] The election was seen as being the closest for years with the other parties needing to gain 4 seats from the Conservatives to deprive them of a majority. ^[3]

There was a record number of candidates in the election, with St Luke's ward having 7 candidates and the British National Party putting up candidates in every ward for the first time. ^[4]

Election result

Overall turnout in the election was 34%. ^[2]

Southend-on-Sea Local Election Result 2008 ^[2]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	9	1	3	-2	52.9	40.8	16,880	-0.1%
	Independent	4	2	0	+2	23.5	15.3	6,313	+4.4%
	Liberal Democrats	3	1	0	+1	17.6	19.2	7,940	-2.9%
	Labour	1	0	1	-1	5.9	12.3	5,104	-3.4%
	BNP	0	0	0	0	0	10.7	4,444	+4.7%
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	0	1.3	523	-0.4%
	Green	0	0	0	0	0	0.5	190	-1.9%

Ward results

Belfairs ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stephen Aylen	1,219	43.9	-3.6
	Independent	Maria Jeffery	753	27.1	-4.4
	BNP	Garry Curtis-Wiggins	326	11.7	+11.7
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Woolcott	301	10.8	-3.0
	Labour	Teresa Merrison	176	6.3	-0.9
Majority			466	16.8	+0.8
Turnout			2,775	38.1	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Blenheim Park ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Longley	966	40.2	-0.2
	Conservative	Ray Davy	950	39.5	+8.8
	BNP	Barry Harvey	269	11.2	-0.5
	Labour	Simon Morley	220	9.1	-1.5
Majority			16	0.7	-9.1
Turnout			2,405	32.1	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Chalkwell ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Robertson	1,257	56.8	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Mallam	363	16.4	-0.1
	Labour	Lars Davidsson	306	13.8	+2.1
	UKIP	Toni Thornes	154	7.0	-3.0
	BNP	James Haggar	132	6.0	+6.0
Majority			894	40.4	+2.5
Turnout			2,212	32.1	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Eastwood Park ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Walker	1,458	57.5	-5.9
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Collins	582	22.9	-0.3
	BNP	Helen Darcy	332	13.1	+13.1
	Labour	Raoul Meade	165	6.5	-7.0
Majority			876	34.5	-5.7
Turnout			2,537	33.7	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Kursaal ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Blaine Robin	747	38.4	+8.4
	Labour	Denis Garne	741	38.1	-1.8
	BNP	Roger Gander	246	12.7	-2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Howard Gibeon	210	10.8	-4.0
Majority			6	0.3
Turnout			1,944	27.8	+2.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Leigh ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Crystall	1,239	53.2	-10.5
	Conservative	Victoria Salter	770	33.1	+3.9
	BNP	Geoffrey Stringer	160	6.9	+6.9
	Labour	Helen Symons	160	6.9	-0.2
Majority			469	20.1	-14.3
Turnout			2,329	33.0	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Milton ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Folkard	928	47.9	+3.6
	Labour	Tony Borton	502	25.9	-2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Justine Farenden	321	16.6	+6.7
	BNP	Derek King	185	9.6	+9.6
Majority			426	22.0	+5.6
Turnout			1,936	28.1	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Prittlewell ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mary Betson	1,032	38.4	-3.2
	Conservative	Melvyn Day	960	35.7	-2.1
	UKIP	John Croft	293	10.9	-0.5
	Labour	Llynus Pigrem	214	8.0	-1.2
	BNP	David Armstrong	191	7.1	+7.1
Majority			72	2.7	-1.1
Turnout			2,690	36.6	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

St Laurence ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Flewitt	1,072	42.5	+4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jill Stone	960	38.1	-5.8
	BNP	Keith Barrett	284	11.3	+11.3
	Labour	Jane Norman	204	8.1	-4.0
Majority			112	4.4
Turnout			2,520	33.8	+2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

St Lukes ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Ashley	861	31.3	-1.9
	Independent	Paul Van Looy	675	24.6	+24.6
	Labour	Anne Chalk	535	19.5	-12.9
	BNP	Fenton Bowley	415	15.1	-3.6
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Howes	145	5.3	-4.1
	UKIP	Lawrence Davies	76	2.8	+2.8
	Green	Cristian Ramis	40	1.5	-4.8
Majority			186	6.8	+6.1
Turnout			2,747	34.7	+5.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Shoeburyness ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Mike Assenheim	1,009	45.8	+17.8
	Conservative	Graham Hill	659	29.9	-3.6
	Labour	Chris Gasper	250	11.3	-9.2
	BNP	John Moss	211	9.6	-3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Dresner	75	3.4	-1.2
Majority			350	15.9
Turnout			2,204	29.3	-1.0
	Independent hold		Swing

Southchurch ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Tony Delaney	1,058	40.4	+40.4
	Conservative	David Garston	971	37.1	-17.2
	BNP	Raymond Weaver	273	10.4	-5.2
	Labour	Joyce Mapp	195	7.4	-5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Linda Smith	121	4.6	-6.5
Majority			87	3.3
Turnout			2,618	37.4	+4.3
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Thorpe ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Mike Stafford	1,918	57.8	+4.0
	Conservative	Sally Carr	1,036	31.2	+1.0
	BNP	David Webster	150	4.5	+4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Davis	110	3.3	-7.6
	Labour	Bernard Chalk	105	3.2	-1.9
Majority			882	26.6	+2.9
Turnout			3,319	46.1	-0.2
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Victoria ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Gilbert	719	37.8	-5.6
	Conservative	David Manclark	478	25.1	-0.7
	BNP	Alisdair Lewis	351	18.4	+2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ronella Streeter	206	10.8	-3.9
	Green	Stephen Jordan	150	7.9	+7.9
Majority			241	12.7	-4.9
Turnout			1,904	26.9	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing

West Leigh ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lamb	1,673	58.1	-1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Margery Jones	821	28.5	+0.8
	BNP	Antony Winchester	232	8.1	+8.1
	Labour	Louise Norman	153	5.3	-0.2
Majority			852	29.6	-2.4
Turnout			2,879	41.9	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Shoebury ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Liz Day	1,340	56.4	+2.0
	BNP	Terence Jellis	447	18.8	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats	James Allen	319	13.4	+2.5
	Labour	Joan Richards	270	11.4	-2.0
Majority			893	37.6	-0.6
Turnout			2,376	32.8	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Westborough ^{[2] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Vel Velmurugan	812	40.6	-4.5
	Conservative	Susan Luty	501	25.1	+3.3
	BNP	James Burns	240	12.0	+12.0
	Labour	Chas Willis	189	9.5	-8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Michael O'Connor	169	8.5	-6.4
	Independent	Deri Laycock	88	4.4	+4.4
Majority			311	15.6	-7.7
Turnout			1,999	28.9	+5.6
	Independent hold		Swing

References

1. "Southend-On-Sea". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
2. "Local Election Results 2008". Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
3. "Southend: Parties' election predictions". Echo. 25 April 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
4. "Southend Council election candidates". Echo. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
5. "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 8 April 2010.^{[ dead link ]}