| Tendring First | |
| Leader: | Terry Allen |
| Foundation: | February 2007 |
| Split: | Conservative Party |
| Country: | the United Kingdom |
| Seats1 Title: | Essex County Council |
| Seats2 Title: | Tendring District Council |
Tendring First is a local political party operating throughout Tendring, Essex, England. They field candidates for Tendring District Council, Frinton and Walton Town Council and Essex County Council. They currently have one district councillor on Tendring District Council and have control of Frinton & Walton Town Council with eight councillors.[1] They had one county councillor on Essex County Council between 2013 and 2016. They have not stood a candidate in a parliamentary election since 2010.
Tendring First was founded by the, then leader of Tendring District Council, Terry Allen, after he, along with fellow Conservative Party district councillors, Peter Balbirnie and Bernard Leatherdale and, Walton and Frinton town councillor and Mayor of Frinton Jack Robertson were all suspended from the Conservative Party.[2] It is unclear why the four councillors were suspended, but their suspension just weeks before the Tendring District Council elections meant they would be unable to stand again as Conservatives.[3] Although party leader Terry Allen was unsuccessful in his re-election bid with Tendring First in 2007, the party was able to secure 10 of the 60 district council seats. After the election, Terry Allen made it clear that Tendring First would actively work to oppose a Conservative administration and would work with opposition parties to form an anti-Conservative administration.[4] Tendring First were subsequently joined by Essex County Councillors Mark Cossens and Pierre Oxley who had earlier been suspended from the Conservative Party.[5]
They were later joined by Roy Smith, and Kevin Watson, from the Community Representatives Party.[6]
See also: Tendring District Council elections.
| Year | Councillors | Control | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | No overall control | |||
| 2011 | No overall control | |||
| 2015 | Conservative | |||
| 2019 | No overall control | |||
| 2023 | No overall control | |||
See also: Essex County Council elections. Tendring First have been represented on Essex County Council from its foundation to the 2009 election, where both sitting members lost their seats to Conservatives. In 2013 Oxley regained his Clacton East seat before he resigned after given a suspended jail term for fraud.[7] [8]
| Year | Councillors | Control | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Conservative | |||
| 2013 | Conservative | |||
| 2017 | Conservative | |||
| 2021 | Conservative | |||