Election Result : UKIP gain 3, Labour gain 1, Lib Dems Lose 1, Tories lose 3

May

23

by admin // in Elections

18 comments

Rayleigh at dawn this morning
Rayleigh at dawn this morning

The final results came just after 4 this morning and we left the count as the dawn broke over Rayleigh.

Here’s the outcome :

UKIP gained their first 3 seats – Great Wakering & Foulness, and Trinity ward from the Conservatives, and Grange Ward from the Lib Dems. But after two early gains their challenge fizzled out a bit. They failed to take Hawkwell North (where they only lost by 25 votes last year) and Whitehouse (where they only lost by 7 last year). UKIP now have 3 seats , and are equal in size to the Lib Dem group.

Labour gained a seat, after being completely absent from the council for some years. The Labour candidate Jerry Gibson, beat James Cottis.

The Lib Dems lost Grange to UKIP, which is really disappointing for us after having a good candidate in Chris Stanley to follow Chris Lumley. However at least Chris Black was a comfortable winner in Downhall and Rawreth.

Michael Hoy comfortably held Hullbridge for the Greens and John Mason did the same for the Rochford Residents Party in Hawkwell West.

The Conservatives lost 3 seats but had comfortable wins in Hawkwell South (Heather Glynn) and Hockley Central (Carol Weston). . They had narrower wins in Hawkwell North, Rayleigh Central, Wheatley and Whitehouse.

And now… off to bed after being up for 23 hours!

About the author, admin

  • Well done Chris, shame Central, Wheatley and Whitehouse were not punished for their party political ( rather than resident ) loyalties but excellent that they lost Trinity –
    ie: those of breaking news leaflet fame ( remember their “truth” issue recently lol.).
    Change is definitely on it’s way in this country ( did you see Basildon/ Castle Point & Southend results too ).

  • Well done Chris, glad you got back in. I was delighted to see Tories loose Trinity, exactly what they deserved. Pity a few more didn’t drop, but in the words of the song “A Change Is Gonna Come”.

  • Well done Chris and to your opponent who handled himself extremely well. Reward for the consistent hard work that is put into the Downhall and Rawreth Ward by the team.

  • I’ve been trying to put this into words but it’s not easy… Yesterday I was awestruck by the people who cared enough about their country or local area to come and vote even though it was physically very difficult for them- such as one gentleman very determinedly, very slowly going into the polling station even though he needed some oxygen assistance. And then there was the lady who said her husband wanted to apologise, he couldn’t vote , he was still in hospital after cancer treatment. He felt he needed to apologise ?! I’m almost lost for words. They are simply heroic people and now I’ve got to try to be worthy of being one of their elected representatives.

  • Will ex-Councillor Cottis now have to change his name and profile on Twitter as he is no longer a councillor? Not that he ever did post anything vaguely useful or interesting – only selfies with Tory bigwigs!

  • Where is the Mighty Oz ? – I thought he would be on with a ‘told you so ‘, and he might well be right , currently seeing a parade of politicians writing it off as a local protest vote , that is both conceited and the same old complacency = same surprise in 2015.

    I sincerely hope this signals the end of Voter apathy and many more turn out at the General Election – whichever way they choose to vote, change has begun – Cllr’s Cutmore and Hudson next time !!!!!!!!!.

  • Chris, you have always represented this Ward well, don’t worry on that score.

    Having looked through the results for Rochford completely I estimate the turnout was around 37/38% which, although not good, isn’t bad for local/European elections. As for the 60+% who didn’t bother, well don’t moan about what happens in your area, you had your chance to influence it and didn’t, so live with it!

  • I imagine that Oz is gracious enough not to want to tub salt into our local wounds, losing in Grange hurts. Though its certainly not the last we’ve seen of Chris Stanley.

    And I’m sorry Jim, I think you are wrong about apathy – the turnouts were only in the 30 – 40 percent range.

    Incidentally , though we had a good win in Downhall and Rawreth – 1013 to 346 – that was in a two-way contest with the Conservatives. We won’t be resting on our laurels!

  • The number of spoilt papers in Downhall and Rawreth was quite high. I saw some, as agent for Chris, and it was clear several people felt there was a party missing from the list A good councillor who works hard in the interest of the residents should always do well in District elections. It is not about big issues but who will argue for your pot holes to be fixed, street lights repaired and parking issues sorted. Most things of a larger nature are determined by County Councils or national government. What happened to localism. Or the Big Society for that matter.

    [EDITED for electoral law reasons]

  • According to the official declaration, there were 61 spolit papers in Downhall and Rawreth. 53 were simply unmarked. Which is understandable – people come down to vote in the Euros, and if they don’t want to vote Lib Dem or Tory in the locals, they leave their paper blank.

    On the other hand 7 of the spoilt papers were people voted for both Keith Podd AND me.

  • Chris – my reference to apathy was’nt related to improved turnout ( or specifically your Ward ) it was the fact that those who did turn out have been moved to change from their traditional choices ( because they see no difference in the established three).

    Clearly UKIP will not win enough seats to form a Government next year but they will
    now do enough to wound all the other three parties and influence the outcome / balance in the Commons. For example just think how much better the RDC decision making would be if not dictated by the party political Whip , as it is now!!!!.

  • Rochford Parish Council held Parish elections this year and James Cottis was elected unopposed (with a number of others)to the Parish Council.

    It normally takes time to update the websites (Rochford District site is still showing the “old” information on Councillors)and the term of office does not begin until after the election which (if there had been a vote) would have been the 22 May.

  • Fear not Oz fans….I have returned after a little week away but I did keep tabs on the election/s from afar. As if I would say I told you so…..

  • Bit of a storm in teacup… It’s not “defying EU orders” it’s “not following an EU recommendation which nobody has heard of”. And clearly in Rochford we don’t follow it either, as we put all our dry recyclables together in the grey bin.

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