2022 Thurrock Council election

2022 Thurrock Council election ^{[1] [2]}

←  2021 5 May 2022 2023  →
16 of the 49 seats to Thurrock Council 25 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	26.41% [3] (0.93%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Rob Gledhill John Kent [lower-alpha 1] Gary Byrne [lower-alpha 2] Party Conservative Labour Thurrock Ind. Leader's seat Little Thurrock Rectory Grays Thurrock Ockendon Seats before 30 15 3 Seats won 9 6 0 Seats after 30 14 3 Seat change 0 1 0   Fourth party   Ind Leader None Party Independent Seats before 1 Seats won 1 Seats after 2 Seat change 1
Map of the election results with each ward representing a seat. Uncontested wards/seats are shown in white
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election Conservative

The 2022 Thurrock Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect a third of the members of Thurrock Council in England. ^[6] Sixteen of the council's 49 seats were contested in sixteen of Thurrock's twenty electoral wards. ^{[7] [1]} There are two or three seats in each ward depending on its population. ^[8] This was on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom.

The Conservatives won the popular vote by 91 votes and retained their thirty-seat majority in the council while Labour came out with fourteen seats, the lowest amount they have ever held on the council. ^[3] The average turnout for the election was 26.41% per ward, meaning that one in four of all of Thurrock's eligible voters had participated. ^[3]

Election

In the run-up to the election, both the Conservatives and Labour ran on local manifestoes focusing on financial prosperity. The Conservatives, who administered the council, promised continued local investment and aid to combat the cost of living crisis, ^[9] while Labour, the council's main opposition, criticised the Conservatives for high council tax, overborrowing, overspending and an alleged lack of transparency, promising to instead focus on openness and the community. ^[10] There were also accusations by the Conservative council leader Rob Gledhill that Labour's councillors had supported the Just Stop Oil protests in the borough, adding that the Labour Group on the council had "close links" to the organisation. ^[11]

The Conservatives won and lost two seats, retaining their thirty-seat majority in the council. ^[12] One Conservative to lose his seat was councillor David Van Day, who lost to Labour's Srikanth Panjala by twenty votes. ^{[13] [7]} Labour won two seats in total but lost another three, resulting in a fourteen-seat minority; the lowest amount of seats Labour has ever held on the council. ^[14] The Thurrock Independents stood its leader's son Ross Byrne in the ward of Stanford East & Corringham Town, ^[3] although their own seats were uncontested. A non-aligned independent councillor was elected in the Tilbury Riverside & Thurrock Park ward, leaving a total of two independent councillors in the council. ^[7]

Mayor Sue Shinnick ^[15] vacated her Labour safe seat in Ockendon to stand in the Conservative-controlled South Chafford ward. Although she won, her old seat fell to Conservative councillor Paul Arnold. Labour's loss was attributed to changing demographics in the South Ockendon area. ^[16] Meanwhile, Conservative council leader Rob Gledhill retained his seat with a small majority of 157, mirroring his near-defeat to UKIP in the 2014 council elections. ^[17]

The Conservatives won the popular vote with 12,442 votes, a small majority of 91 against Labour's 12,351. The election suffered a low turnout, with only one in four eligible voters participating. ^[3]

Results

Below are the results for all sixteen contested seats in their respective wards. Winning candidates are shown in bold.

Aveley & Uplands

Aveley & Uplands ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Srikanth Panjala	877	50.6	+16.9
	Conservative	David Van Day	857	49.4	−16.9
Majority			20
Turnout			1,750	23.28
	Labour gain from Thurrock Ind.		Swing

Belhus

Belhus ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Coxshall	864	51.2	+6.4
	Labour	Mark Hurrell	822	48.8	+15.1
Majority			42
Turnout			1,706	23.76
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Chadwell St. Mary

Chadwell St. Mary ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sara Muldowney	1,144	59.8	+20.5
	Conservative	Gavin Holland	770	40.2	−5.2
Majority			374
Turnout			1,929	26.72
	Labour hold		Swing

Grays Riverside

Grays Riverside ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Kerin	1,208	71.9	+20.6
	Conservative	Obinna Obi-Njoku	472	28.1	−7.6
Majority			736
Turnout			1,703	21.09
	Labour hold		Swing

Grays Thurrock

Grays Thurrock ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynn Worrall	1,153	68.1	+10.7
	Conservative	Joanne Swash	540	31.9	−10.7
Majority			613
Turnout			1,710	25.97
	Labour hold		Swing

Little Thurrock Blackshots

Little Thurrock Blackshots ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Benjamin Maney	906	61.3	+9.5
	Labour	Clifford Holloway	571	38.7	+17.9
Majority			335
Turnout			1,488	29.07
	Conservative hold		Swing

Little Thurrock Rectory

Little Thurrock Rectory ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rob Gledhill	765	55.7	+15.3
	Labour	Aaron Green	608	44.3	+24.4
Majority			157
Turnout			1,388	30.53
	Conservative hold		Swing

• Change shown from 2019, when this ward was last up for election

Ockendon

Ockendon ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Arnold	1,021	53.8	−1.4
	Labour	Ruth Clapham	877	46.2	+12.9
Majority			144
Turnout			1,923	23.35
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Orsett

Orsett ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Barry Johnson	1,095	72.8	−7.8
	Labour	Gary Watson	410	27.2	+14.2
Majority			685
Turnout			1,532	30.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

South Chafford

South Chafford ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sue Shinnick	697	55.2	+8.2
	Conservative	Abosede Akinbohun	566	44.8	−8.2
Majority			131
Turnout			1,272	25.41
	Labour hold		Swing

Stanford East & Corringham Town

Stanford East & Corringham Town ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alex Anderson	824	46.4	−14.8
	Labour Co-op	John Cecil	524	29.5	+7.6
	Thurrock Ind.	Ross Byrne	427	24.1	+7.2
Majority			300
Turnout			1,786	28.17
	Conservative hold		Swing

Stifford Clays

Stifford Clays ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Elizabeth Rigby	749	53.0	+22.4
	Labour	Mark Hooper	665	47.0	+16.0
Majority			84
Turnout			1,434	28.71
	Conservative hold		Swing

• Change shown from 2019, when this ward was last up for election

The Homesteads

The Homesteads ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Halden	1,363	65.9	+6.0
	Labour	Jacqueline Dobson	704	34.1	+15.4
Majority			659
Turnout			2,117	33.23
	Conservative hold		Swing

Tilbury Riverside & Thurrock Park

Tilbury Riverside & Thurrock Park ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Allen	562	43.5	N/A
	Labour	Bukky Okunade	439	34.0	−0.5
	Conservative	Judan Ali	290	22.5	+14.2
Majority			123
Turnout			1,292	27.35
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

• Change shown from 2019, when this ward was last up for election

Tilbury St. Chads

Tilbury St. Chads ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Liddiard	670	75.2	+29.0
	Conservative	David Morgan	221	24.8	+6.2
Majority			449
Turnout			901	20.91
	Labour hold		Swing

West Thurrock & South Stifford

West Thurrock & South Stifford ^{[7] [1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Qaisar Abbas	1,139	53.7	+8.8
	Labour	David Harris	982	46.3	−8.8
Majority			157
Turnout			2,141	24.65
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Notes

1. John Kent is the leader of the Labour Group on the council ^[4] but his seat was not contested.
2. Gary Byrne is the leader of the Thurrock Independent Group on the council ^[5] but his seat was not contested. His son Ross Byrne contested a seat in the Stanford East & Corringham Town ward. ^[3]

References

1. "Vote 2022 Local election results". Thurrock Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
2. "Thurrock 2022 local election results announced". Thurrock Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
3. "A good night for Thurrock Tories as Labour take a bruising and slip to new low". Thurrock Nub News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
4. "Thurrock Labour Councillors". Thurrock Labour. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
5. "Thurrock Independents". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
6. "Election dates | Elections and election results". Thurrock Council. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
7. "Thurrock Council - Declaration of result of poll for local elections, 5 May 2022" (PDF). Thurrock Council. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
8. "Wards | Wards and polling stations". Thurrock Council. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
9. "Thurrock Tories hope to focus on local economy during elections". Your Thurrock. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
10. "Thurrock Labour unveil election manifesto". Your Thurrock. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
11. Speight, Neil (25 April 2022). "Political war of words continues as Tory councillors step up level of accusations". Thurrock Nub News. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
12. "Local Elections 2022: Results in Kent, Sussex and Essex". ITV News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
13. Lee, Joseph (6 May 2022). "Elections 2022: Magic pixies and an '80s pop star - five under-the-radar moments". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
14. "Thurrock Conservatives retain control of council". Your Thurrock. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
15. "The Mayor | Mayor of Thurrock". Thurrock Council. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
16. Speight, Neil (6 May 2022). "Tories take Ockendon as Sue jumps sinking ship". Thurrock Nub News. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
17. Speight, Neil (6 May 2022). "Tory veteran councillor and leader battled hard for his victory". Thurrock Nub News. Retrieved 8 May 2022.