The LOcal Elections - And What theY MEan for the East

Colin Campbell, Councillor, Southend City Council

“Clunky”, “toxic”, “caustic and divisive” – this is how the political decision-making at Southend-on-Sea City Council was described by internal and external stakeholders during the Local Government Association’s Corporate Peer Challenge in October 2022. This is after Southend failed to appoint a new chief executive for a year between 2021 and 2022, with two candidates withdrawing from the selection process after witnessing a meeting of councillors and observing their behaviour.

Now, looking to Southend, our electoral success, was in stark contrast to the difficult situation beholding the national Party. My colleague and I were two rare Conservative gains in Southend, and we managed to form a minority administration whilst colleagues up and down the country lost seats and control. The Party only won 29% of seats up for election this last May: a clear showing that youthful candidates and effective data-led campaigns can win despite the national picture.

However, that was not just the case in Southend. We ran a campaign targeting the coalition: a vote for anyone but the Conservatives is a vote for Labour to keep running the show. This triumphed, with the Lib Dems and Independents losing seats to the Conservatives. We also highlighted the poor management of the Council, with debt soaring to £357.4M and a £10M investment in an economically unviable scheme called Seaway, as well as unpopular policies, such as charging residents to use car parks after 6pm and looking to build on the Green Belt.

The recent elections resulted in the fracture of the Independents into smaller groups, Labour cycling through leaders (and trying to oust one after just 11 days) as well as losing a councillor due to bullying, and the Lib Dems losing ground to elect the first ever Green. It therefore was only right that the Conservatives – the natural, sensible party of governance – were to bring some order to the chaos that had been reigning over Southend.

So, what have the Conservatives discovered since entering administration? The budgets which Labour described as “balanced” appear to be not so stable. Upon further investigation, the Council’s finances are in a far more dire position than what the coalition were letting on. This is due to a destructive concoction of poor governance – councillors happy to take a cabinet member paycheck without having to do much work – and senior officers getting to run amuck.

The whole point of having democratic oversight is to prevent this; however, Labour, the Lib Dems, and the Independents were more than happy to forego their responsibilities. Yet, at the same time, they were happy to “Tory-bash” the national Government for their actions and accuse the local Conservatives of being toxic for asking scrutinising questions. If one ever needs an example of coalitions that do not work, just look at Southend 2019 to 2023. The Conservatives, once again, have to be the sensible party willing to take decisive action for the betterment of all residents.

This is further highlighted in the latest Cabinet papers which show a forecast revenue overspend of circa £14M. This has been met with calls of outrage from Labour: “they’ve managed to overspend more in 3 months than the last administration did in a whole year!”. This is an interesting reaction. Now, they gladly admit to overspending whilst in control, causing our debt to skyrocket, yet they also berate the Conservative Administration for not providing financial support to, nor buying, Southend United Football Club – a private enterprise.

Which is it, we’re spending too much or not enough? The Labour philosophy of governance. I would like to add that, since being elected and the Conservatives taking control in May, a new budget has not yet been passed by the Council – meaning we are still using their previous one! Very coy of them to shout loudly “look at this financial mess” and point their fingers at the ones controlling the reins, having caused all of the problems themselves.

And that’s just the monetary and governance side of things (albeit the most important, in my view!). The ongoings behind the scenes are even more fascinating. The coalition, in the run up to the elections in May, were running on a joint platform. Harmony in the sense of anyone but the Conservatives. (Tactical politics and voting at its finest).

So, if all the other parties were so chummy, why is there now a break-off residents’ group? Why does a Labour councillor leave the Chamber every time their leader speaks? And why are the Lib Dems in battle with a senior councillor that served in leadership with them? Because it was all a sham. They were united in their hatred of the Conservatives, and this blinded them entirely from the point of what they were elected to do.

They had no interest in running an administration, they had no interest in providing services to residents, and they had no interest in making Southend a better place to live. Their only goal: stop the Conservatives no matter what. This is the key issue when it comes to politics, especially at a local level. Conservatives act when in power, the rest take action to keep them out.

In Southend, they make sure to say punchy lines to clip for their Twitter accounts and prove to their national party they should be allowed to stand for Parliament – talking for the sake of talking without actually saying anything. Their motions are similar, policy made on the hoof for whatever looks popular for Twitter at the time. No forethought at all.

Tough decisions will have to be taken where the coalition kicked cans down the road. To give them credit, or perhaps recognise blind luck, they knew they could spend a year out of administration and let the Conservatives fix their mess – allowing them to slate us in the public domain and escape scot-free from the consequences. There is no better scapegoat than a Conservative, it seems. There is a storm brewing in Southend, and it will shine a light on the previous administration…