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Southend-on-Sea City Council

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Southend Borough Council)

Southend-on-Sea City Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Tony Cox,
Reform UK
since 14 May 2026[1]
Daniel Cowan,
Labour
since 20 May 2024
Colin Ansell
since 5 February 2024
Structure
Seats51 councillors
Graph of the party split among 50 seats.
Political groups
Administration (23)
  Labour (17)
  Liberal Democrats (3)
  Independent (3)
Other parties (28)
  Conservative (11)
  Reform UK (11)
  Green (4)
  Independent (2)
Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
7 May 2026
Meeting place
Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6ER
Website
www.southend.gov.uk

Southend-on-Sea City Council is the local authority of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Southend has had an elected local authority since 1866, which has been reformed several times. Since 1998 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council; it is independent from Essex County Council.

The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Since 2024 it has been led by a coalition of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and some of the independent councillors. It is based at Southend Civic Centre.

The government plans to abolish the council in 2028 and merge it into a new South East Essex unitary authority, which will also cover the current Rochford District and Borough of Castle Point as part of its upcoming structural changes to local government in England.[2]

History

[edit]

Southend's first elected council was a local board, which held its first meeting on 29 August 1866.[3] Prior to that the town was administered by the vestry for the wider parish of Prittlewell. The local board district was enlarged in 1877 to cover the whole parish of Prittlewell.[4]

In 1892 the town was made a municipal borough, governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Southend-on-Sea', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. The borough boundaries were enlarged on several occasions, notably absorbing Southchurch in 1897, Leigh-on-Sea in 1913, and Shoeburyness, North Shoebury and Eastwood in 1933. By 1914 the borough was considered large enough to provide its own county-level functions, and so it was made a county borough, independent from Essex County Council.[5]

The powers of the council were substantially reformed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. Southend's boundaries remained the same, but it was redesignated as a non-metropolitan district, with Essex County Council once more providing county-level services. Southend retained its borough status, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Southend's series of mayors dating back to 1892.[6]

Southend regained its independence from Essex County Council on 1 April 1998 when it was made a unitary authority. The way this change was implemented was to create a new non-metropolitan county called Southend-on-Sea covering the same area as the district, but with no separate county council. Instead, the existing borough council assumed the functions that legislation assigns to county councils, making it a unitary authority. This therefore had the effect of restoring the borough council to the powers it had held when Southend was a county borough prior to 1974.[7] Southend-on-Sea remains part of the ceremonial county of Essex for the purposes of lieutenancy.[8]

On 26 January 2022 letters patent were issued granting city status to the borough, allowing the council to change its name to Southend-on-Sea City Council.[9]

Governance

[edit]

Southend-on-Sea City Council provides both district-level and county-level functions. There is one civil parish within the city at Leigh-on-Sea, which forms an additional tier of local government for that area; the rest of the city is unparished.[10]

Political control

[edit]

The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Following the 2024 election a coalition of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and some of the independent councillors was formed to run the council, led by Labour councillor Daniel Cowan.[11][12] The same coalition continued to run the council following the 2026 election.[13]

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[14][15]

Lower-tier non-metropolitan district

Party in controlYears
No overall control1974–1976
Conservative1976–1987
No overall control1987–1990
Conservative1990–1994
No overall control1994–1998

Unitary authority

Party in controlYears
No overall control1998–2000
Conservative2000–2012
No overall control2012–2013
Conservative2013–2014
No overall control2014–2017
Conservative2017–2019
No overall control2019–present

Leadership

[edit]

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Southend-on-Sea, usually being held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2003 have been:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Charles Latham[16]Conservative20 Feb 2003
Howard Briggs[16][17]Conservative20 Feb 200312 May 2005
Anna Waite[17][18]Conservative12 May 2005May 2006
Murray Foster[19][20]Conservative18 May 2006May 2007
Nigel Holdcroft[21][22]Conservative17 May 2007May 2014
Ron Woodley[23][24]Independent5 Jun 2014May 2016
John Lamb[25][26]Conservative19 May 20169 May 2019
Tony Cox[27][28]Conservative9 May 20193 Jun 2019
Ian Gilbert[29][30]Labour3 Jun 2019May 2022
Stephen George[31][32]Labour19 May 202218 May 2023
Tony Cox[32][33]Conservative18 May 202320 May 2024
Daniel Cowan[34]Labour20 May 2024

Composition

[edit]

Following the 2026 election, the composition of the council was:[35]

PartyCouncillors
Labour17
Conservative11
Reform11
Green4
Liberal Democrats3
Independent5
Total51

Three of the independent councillors sit together as the "Rochford and Southend East Independents Group", which forms the council's administration with Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The other two independent councillors are not aligned to any group.[36]

Elections

[edit]

Since the last boundary changes in 2001, the council has comprised 51 councillors representing 17 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office.[37] The next election in 2026 will be held under new boundaries. [38]

Premises

[edit]

The council is based at Southend Civic Centre on Victoria Avenue.[39] The building was designed by borough architect, Patrick Burridge, and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 31 October 1967.[40]

Performance

[edit]

In 2007, Southend Borough Council was criticised as one of the worst financially managed local authorities in England by the Audit Commission report for 2006/7, one of three to gain only one of four stars, the others being Liverpool and the Isles of Scilly.[41]

In March 2012, Southend Borough Council was awarded the title of 'Council of the Year 2012' by the Local Government Chronicle.[42]

Arms

[edit]
Coat of arms of Southend-on-Sea City Council
Notes
Originally granted to Southend-on-Sea County Borough Council on 1 & 2 January 1915. Transferred to Southend-on-Sea Borough Council on 21 May 1974.[43]
Crest
Issuant out of a mural crown Gules the mast of a ship proper flying therefrom a flag Argent charged with a cross throughout Gules.
Escutcheon
Azure on a pile Argent between on the dexter an anchor erect on the sinister a grid-iron and in base a trefoil slipped Or a flower vase issuing therefrom a spray of lilies Proper.
Supporters
On the dexter side a mediaeval fisherman holding a net with his exterior hand all Proper and on the sinister side a Cluniac monk Proper holding in the dexter hand a book Gules and in the exterior hand a staff also Proper.
Motto
Per Mare Per Ecclesiam (Through The Sea Through The Church)

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Greenaway, Naomi (15 May 2026). "Reform's Tony Cox selected as Southend Council's new mayor". Southend Echo. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  2. ↑ Kendix, Max (20 December 2024). "Taxpayers could be liable for £43bn of debts in council mergers". The Times. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "Southend". Chelmsford Chronicle. 31 August 1866. p. 5. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Yearsley, Ian (2016). Southend in 50 buildings. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445651897. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  5. ↑ "Southend on Sea Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "The Essex (Boroughs of Colchester, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock and District of Tendring) (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1996/1875, retrieved 26 May 2023
  8. ↑ "Lieutenancies Act 1997: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1997 c. 23 (sch. 1), retrieved 29 May 2024
  9. ↑ "Southend: Prince Charles presents city status document to Essex resort". BBC News. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "Joint administration agreement between the Labour, Independent and Liberal Democrat groups of Southend-on-City City Council". Southend-on-Sea City Council. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  12. ↑ Knight, Matt (21 May 2024). "Labour take control to lead coalition in Southend". BBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  13. ↑ Dedman, Simon (19 May 2026). "Labour retains leadership of Southend council". BBC News. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  14. ↑ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "Southend-on-Sea" in search box to see specific results.)
  15. ↑ "Southend-On-Sea". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  16. 1 2 "Council minutes, 20 February 2003". Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  17. 1 2 "Council minutes, 12 May 2005". Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  18. ↑ McGrath, Kate (5 May 2006). "Tories maintain grip on south Essex councils". Southend Echo. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  19. ↑ "Council minutes, 18 May 2006". Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  20. ↑ Blaakman, Steven (9 May 2007). "New council leader confirmed". Southend Echo. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  21. ↑ "Council minutes, 17 May 2007". Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  22. ↑ Weinfass, Ian (4 February 2014). "Tory Councillor Holdcroft defends his finance record in heated Council debate". Southend Echo. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  23. ↑ "Council minutes, 5 June 2014". Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  24. ↑ Nizinskyj, Paul (27 April 2016). "Tory candidate condemns his own party after attempts to oust council leader". Southend Echo. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  25. ↑ "Council minutes, 19 May 2016" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  26. ↑ Sexton, Christine (27 April 2025). "Highest civic honours for Southend champions". Yellow Advertiser. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  27. ↑ "Council minutes, 9 May 2019" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  28. ↑ "Southend Council: Leader voted out as coalition take over". BBC News. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  29. ↑ "Council minutes, 3 June 2019" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  30. ↑ Sexton, Christine (11 May 2022). "Southend Labour remove Ian Gilbert as leader". Southend Echo. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  31. ↑ "Council minutes, 19 May 2022" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea City Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  32. 1 2 "Council minutes, 18 May 2023" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea City Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  33. ↑ Knight, Matt (21 May 2024). "Labour take control to lead coalition in Southend". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  34. ↑ "Council minutes, 20 May 2024" (PDF). Southend-on-Sea City Council. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  35. ↑ "Southend-on-Sea". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  36. ↑ "Your councillors by political grouping". Southend-on-Sea City Council. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  37. ↑ "The Borough of Southend-on-Sea (Electoral Changes) Order 2000", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2000/1487, retrieved 20 July 2024
  38. ↑ "Election Cycle Consultation 2023".
  39. ↑ "Contact us". Southend-on-Sea City Council. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  40. ↑ "Southend Civic Centre". Modern Mooch. 14 June 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  41. ↑ Laura Smith (30 January 2008). "Echo News - Official: Council is wasting our cash". Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  42. ↑ Uncited (14 March 2012). "Southend Council wins council of the year at Local Government Chronicle awards". Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  43. ↑ "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
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