2024 Southend-on-Sea City Council election

Prior to the election, the council was under no overall control, being run by a Conservative minority administration with informal support from some of the independent councillors.^[1]

The seats up for election in 2024 were last contested in 2021; because of the delay of all local elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the seats are up for election after 3 years rather than the usual 4. In that election, the Conservatives won 11 seats with 40.5%, Labour won 6 with 26.1%, independents won 1 with 13.0% and the Liberal Democrats won 1 with 11.4%.

The council remained under no overall control after the election, but Labour gained four seats to become the largest party on the council.^[2] A coalition comprising Labour, the Liberal Democrats and four of the independent councillors subsequently formed to run the council, led by the Labour group leader Daniel Cowan.^[3] He was formally appointed as leader of the council at a meeting on 20 May 2024.^[4]

Changes 2023–2024:

• May 2023: Kathy Murphy leaves Labour to sit as an independent^[6]

2024 Southend-on-Sea City Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Labour	7	4	41.2	13	20	39.2	12,702	31.6	+2.9
	Conservative	7	4	41.2	11	18	35.3	12,406	30.9	–2.3
	Independent	1	1	5.9	6	7	13.7	3,572	8.9	–3.4
	Liberal Democrats	1		5.9	3	4	7.8	4,351	10.8	–2.4
	Green	1	1	5.9	1	2	3.9	5,434	13.5	+4.4
	Confelicity	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	1,307	3.3	+0.4
	Heritage	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	420	1.0	+0.7

Results of the City Council election were released by Southend-on-Sea City Council on 3 May 2024.^[8]

Seat changes are compared to the 2023 election and do not take into account interim changes due to by-elections or defections.

Belfairs

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jack Warren*	1,006	39.2	+5.9
	Green	Nathaniel Love	693	27.0	+21.5
	Independent	Gareth Evans	419	16.3	N/A
	Labour	Graham Main	320	12.5	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Cummins	86	3.4	–1.1
	Confelicity	Lizzie Smith	32	1.2	+0.4
Majority			313	12.2	N/A
Turnout			2,565	34.9	–1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.8

Blenheim Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Shahid Nadeem	1,089	40.0	+5.9
	Conservative	Helen Boyd*	677	24.9	–2.9
	Independent	Keith Evans	561	20.6	–6.8
	Green	AJ Sutherland	223	8.2	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Pamela Austin	103	3.8	+0.6
	Heritage	Lynn Smith	28	1.0	N/A
	Confelicity	Luis Lancos	26	1.0	–0.1
Majority			412	15.1	+8.8
Turnout			2,722	33.7	+1.8
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	4.4

Chalkwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Courtenay*	975	40.8	–6.7
	Labour	Mike O'Connor	868	36.3	+4.7
	Green	James Vessey-Miller	331	13.9	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Hind	130	5.4	–2.4
	Confelicity	Roma Patel	73	3.05	±0.0
Majority			107	4.5	–11.4
Turnout			2,388	33.7	–0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.7

Eastwood Park

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Poulton	1,419	56.4	–11.3
	Conservative	Verina Weaver	762	30.3	+6.6
	Labour	Christopher Clarke	193	7.7	+2.7
	Green	Lauren Ekins	78	3.1	+1.1
	Confelicity	Simon Spooner	53	2.1	+0.6
Majority			657	26.1	–17.9
Turnout			2,517	34.5	–1.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	9.0

Kursaal

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Irene Ferguson	846	51.0	–3.9
	Conservative	Marco Mann	237	14.3	–7.2
	Independent	Kay Mitchell	179	10.8	N/A
	Confelicity	Lee Clark	155	9.3	+3.7
	Green	Thomas Love	128	7.7	–0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Crystall	58	3.5	–1.5
	Heritage	Lara Hurley	51	3.1	+0.9
Majority			609	36.7	+3.3
Turnout			1,660	20.8	+0.3
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing	1.7

Leigh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Stuart Allen	1,725	57.6	+18.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jean de Tourtoulon	637	21.3	–10.1
	Conservative	Mary Canet-Espi	342	11.4	–7.4
	Labour	Malla Reddy Gurram	202	6.7	–1.9
	Confelicity	James Miller	80	2.7	+1.3
Majority			1,088	36.3	+28.6
Turnout			2,996	40.9	+4.7
	Green gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	14.3

Milton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sam Allen	1,170	52.1	+1.0
	Conservative	Jonathan Garston	540	24.0	–0.2
	Green	Sarah-Ann Patel	269	12.0	+2.0
	Heritage	Bianca Isherwood	106	4.7	±0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Howes	84	3.7	–2.7
	Confelicity	Dee Curtis	68	3.0	–0.7
Majority			630	28.1	+1.2
Turnout			2,246	27.0	–0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	0.6

Prittlewell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Garston*	1,032	39.0	–4.6
	Labour	Chris Webster	971	36.7	–0.8
	Green	RJ Learmouth	220	8.3	+2.8
	Independent	Leanne Kelly	170	6.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Pierre Craddock	142	5.4	–4.0
	Confelicity	Simon Jones	87	3.3	–0.7
Majority			61	2.3	–3.8
Turnout			2,645	33.8	–0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.9

Shoeburyness

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Judith McMahon	742	31.5	–3.6
	Labour	Kevin Ryan	734	31.1	+14.6
	Independent	Tricia Cowdrey	628	26.6	–12.1
	Green	Fiona Clapperton	125	5.3	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Bailey	68	2.9	+0.4
	Confelicity	Kayleigh Burgess	47	2.0	±0.0
Majority			8	0.4	N/A
Turnout			2,357	27.6	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.1

Southchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Darryl Jones*	1,317	52.2	+0.4
	Labour	Carrie Druce	560	27.7	+11.6
	Green	Matthew Dallat	162	7.4	+0.4
	Confelicity	Dean Harris-Eckett	151	6.9	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Billy Boulton	102	4.7	+0.6
	Heritage	Angela Mozzato	47	2.2	N/A
Majority			757	24.5	–10.5
Turnout			2,178	29.5	–0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.6

St Laurence

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Madison Faulkner-Hatt	1,164	50.0	–3.6
	Conservative	Samuel Pettengell	790	33.9	–1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Kev Malone	148	6.4	+1.3
	Green	Simon Gittus	120	5.2	+1.6
	Confelicity	Sandy van Deventer	93	4.0	+1.8
Majority			374	16.1	–1.9
Turnout			2,327	29.6	–1.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	1.0

St Luke's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jane Norman	911	43.8	–5.0
	Conservative	Brian Beggs*	534	25.7	+3.8
	Independent	Brian Ayling	212	10.2	–1.3
	Green	Tilly Hogrebe	191	9.2	+0.3
	Confelicity	Joleen Hills	84	4.0	–1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Sara-Jayne Boulton	69	3.3	–0.6
	Heritage	Adam Ball	61	2.9	N/A
Majority			377	18.1	–8.7
Turnout			2,081	26.0	+0.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	4.4

Thorpe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Susan Badger	1,001	35.8	–0.4
	Conservative	Gavin Chambers	870	31.1	+2.8
	Labour	David Scott	571	20.4	+8.1
	Green	Julie Callow	166	5.9	+0.9
	Confelicity	Melissa Aylott	69	2.5	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Katie Kurilecz	54	1.9	–0.1
	Heritage	Adam Isherwood	51	1.8	N/A
Majority			131	4.7	–3.2
Turnout			2,797	38.8	–2.3
	Independent hold		Swing	1.6

Victoria

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Gilbert*	1,109	60.1	+0.5
	Conservative	Bernard Arscott	298	16.2	–3.3
	Green	Peter Walker	180	9.8	±0.0
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Edey	100	5.4	–1.1
	Heritage	Sandra Wiseman	76	4.1	N/A
	Confelicity	Jonathan Humphreys	61	3.3	–1.4
Majority			811	43.9	+3.8
Turnout			1,844	20.1	+0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	1.9

West Leigh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Lesley Salter	1,086	37.9	–9.2
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Wexham	895	30.7	–3.8
	Green	Gemma Deeney	413	14.2	+5.9
	Labour	James Morrison	407	14.0	+6.2
	Confelicity	Jane Wilkes	96	3.3	+1.0
Majority			191	7.2	–5.4
Turnout			2,912	40.8	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.7

West Shoebury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Moyies*	1,002	45.3	–13.1
	Labour Co-op	Ian Pope	524	23.7	+3.0
	Independent	Barry Godwin	402	18.2	N/A
	Green	Lea Williams	147	6.6	–2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Granville Stride	70	3.2	–4.3
	Confelicity	Robert Cammidge	58	2.6	–2.3
Majority			478	21.6	–16.0
Turnout			2,214	30.2	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.1

Westborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pamela Kinsella	1,063	53.8	–3.1
	Conservative	Dr Vel	375	19.0	+0.5
	Green	Stephen Jordan	263	13.3	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanna Edey	186	9.4	+0.8
	Confelicity	Noah Hughes	74	3.7	–0.4
Majority			688	34.8	–3.6
Turnout			1,977	25.8	+1.8
	Labour hold		Swing	1.8