2008 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election explained

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]

Notes and References

1. News: Southend-On-Sea . 2010-04-08 . . 2008-04-19.
2. Web site: Local Election Results 2008 . 2010-04-08 . Southend-on-Sea Borough Council . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080609083723/http://www.southend.gov.uk/election/2008/ . 9 June 2008 . dmy-all .
3. Web site: Southend: Parties' election predictions . 2010-04-08 . 2008-04-25 . Echo.
4. Web site: Southend Council election candidates . 2010-04-08 . 2008-07-07 . Echo.