The Results, 2022

Results of the Local Elections held on May 5th, 2022

Conservatives retain control of Basildon Council!

It was a night of high drama but, save one exception (namely, the sad loss of an exceptionally hard-working Conservative councillor in Langdon Hills), last night was a terrific vote of confidence in the Conservative Party across Basildon. As you can see from the above graphic, Basildon Conservatives have retained control of Basildon Council, having won nine of the ten seats we were defending and gained a seat from Labour in Pitsea North-West, unseating the Leader of the Labour Group. This means that we remain at 25 seats, which gives us the overall majority we need to remain in Administration.

All told, Basildon Conservatives secured nearly half of the popular vote across the Borough, which is exactly the same as last year. Labour broke even at 10 seats (24% of the vote). In fact, all the parties remained more or less the same, with the Smithites retaining their seat in Nethermayne and gaining the second Langdon Hills seat from us, taking them back to 5 seats in total (9%). Having made no gains, the Wickford Independents remain at just two seats (6% - a doubling of their vote share from last year). The Liberal Democrats increased their vote share from 9% to 11% but failed to win any seats (it has now been 6 years since a Liberal has sat on the Council). 

 

 

The detailed breakdown of results is as follows:

 

BILLERICAY EAST – Con HOLD

 SCHRADER, Andrew (Con) – 2,062 (67%) *Elected
 CLARK, Laura (LibD) – 604 (20%)
 BUNYAN, Peter (Lab) – 405 (13%)

Turnout: 33% (-3)

I was elated to be re-elected by the good burghers of Billericay East with a majority of 1,458. However, my share of the vote was down 3 points on last year (and 11 points down on what I achieved when I was last re-elected) and I have had nearly 600 votes shaved off my majority. So I take nothing for granted. The Liberals, by contrast, enjoyed a 9-point swing and beat Labour into third place. Not bad going, considering their candidate spent all her time campaigning in the neighbouring ward. Labour's share has slumped 4 points on last year, with the Liberals seemingly the beneficiaries of the absence of any fourth party candidate (last year, we had a 'Kipper on the ballot and those protest votes appear to have gone the Liberals' way). Mine was, nevertheless, the largest Conservative majority of the evening (the second largest overall). I never take my voters in Billericay East for granted and I am gratified and humbled by their continued faith in me and look forward to being able to carry on serving them.

 

BILLERICAY WEST – Con HOLD

HEDLEY, Anthony (Con) – 2,005 (57%) *Elected
NICKLIN, Timothy (LibD) – 1,329 (38%)
BUNYAN, Sally (Lab) – 206 (6%)

Turnout: 38% (-2)

Conservative Deputy Leader Tony Hedley was returned in Billericay West with a majority of 676 - a testament to Tony's hard work and dedication and massively increased visibility since he joined Facebook a year ago. This was still, nonetheless, a close result by Billericay standards. Although both Tony's vote share and majority was 7 points up on last year, when we came within 200 votes of losing the seat, it is still a far cry from from the 2k majority he won back in 2018. It will have been a disappointing result for the Liberals, who have been executing a classic Lib Dem 'decapitation strategy' in Billericay West for the past few years but their decision to change candidates, coupled with the withdrawal of the unpopular Local Plan, seems to have cost them. Their vote share was down 7 points. Meanwhile, the needle hardly moved for Labour.

 

BURSTEAD – Con HOLD

BAGGOTT, Andrew (Con) – 1,948 (66%) *Elected
DAFFIN, Christopher (LibD) – 687 (23%)
REID, Malcolm (Lab) – 332 (11%)

Turnout: 34% (-2)

Our Glorious Leader Andrew Baggott was re-elected in Burstead with a relatively modest majority of 1,261 but the Liberals put in a surprisingly strong showing, with a 10-point swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems, pushing Labour into third place. Labour's vote share has hardly budged (but then they never really try to budge it).

 

 
CROUCH – Con HOLD

SARGENT, Terri (Con) – 1,311 (76%) *Elected
HILTON, Tracey (Lab) – 408 (24%)

Turnout: 26% (-10)

Terri Sargent was re-elected in Crouch with a majority of 903. Our vote share was up 4 points here but that can probably be accounted for by lack of alternative candidates. In 2021, we also had a Liberal, an Independent and a Reform UK candidate. This year, it was a two-horse race between Terri and Labour, which probably accounts for the 10% reduction in turnout, with many voters choosing to sit on their hands. Nevertheless, it was gratifying to see Terri comfortably returned.

 

FRYERNS – Lab HOLD

KIRKMAN, David (Lab) – 1,074 (56%) *Elected
 SANDHU, Sandeep (Con) – 624 (33%)
HOWARD, Vivien (LibD) – 209 (11%)

Turnout: 19% (-4)

Somewhat astonishingly, Labour's David Kirkman (who has attended no meetings since September due to illness and logged very little casework) was, nonetheless, re-elected to his safe Labour seat of Fryerns with an increased majority of 450 and well over half the popular vote - doubtlessly cashing in on the fact that the Basildon Community Residents Party and Reform UK did not field candidates this year. Those votes have pretty much gone straight back to Labour. Alas, our valiant candidate, Sandeep Sandhu, fought a hard campaign but to essentially nil effect. Our vote share has remained infuriatingly static. The Liberals came a distant third.

 

LAINDON PARK – Con HOLD

HENRY, Jeff (Con) – 1,123 (52%) *Elected
GODDARD, David (Lab) – 763 (35%)
McCARTHY, Stephen (LibD) – 136 (6%)
BATEMAN, Christopher (BDem) – 100 (5%)
MURRAY, David (TUSC) - 47 (2%)

Turnout: 22% (-7)

Popular local folk hero Jeff Henry, saviour of the Laindon Community Centre, was comfortably re-elected to his Laindon Park borough seat (Jeff is also the local Essex county councillor for Laindon Park & Fryerns) with a majority of 360 and more than half the popular vote. Although our vote share was down 3 points on last year, this was a great result in a seat that has, for many years, been regarded as a key marginal. Not any more. By his continued hard work and efforts, along with his ward colleague Kevin Wingfield, Laindon Park has returned to the fold. The aim now is to win the third seat next year and make Laindon an 'all blue' ward for the first time in over a decade. Labour's vote share was up 8 points but not enough to unseat our Jeffers. The Liberals made little impact and the two fringe party candidates made no impact at all.   

 

LANGDON HILLS – Ind GAIN from Con

BROWN, Walter (Ind) – 1,201 (50%) *Elected
ALLEN, Christopher (Con) – 883 (37%)
ZWENGUNDE, Clarence (Lab) – 237 (10%)
MAY, Christopher (LibD) – 68 (3%)

Turnout: 34% (-4)

In an absolutely gutting result, my friend and colleague, tireless local champion Chris Allen, lost his seat to Kerry Smith cipher Walter Brown. Despite having only won the seat in a by-election last year, Chris has made a massive impact over the past 12 months but, sadly, even being the only candidate who actually lived in Langdon Hills was not enough to buck the inscrutable voting habits of the voters there, who would elect a blancmange if it was endorsed by Kerry Smith. Councillor Brown enjoys a majority of 318. Labour and the Liberals were spectators here. It was very much a two-horse race. 

 

LEE CHAPEL NORTH – Lab HOLD

CAIRA-NEESON, Susanna (Lab) – 1,006 (56%) *Elected
SHUKLA, Deepak (Con) – 649 (36%)
SAGGERS, Norma (RUK) – 157 (9%)

Turnout: 18% (-7)

This was another very disappointing result. Despite having been within 45 votes of winning the seat last year, our plucky candidate Deepak Shukla came a distant second behind Susanna Caira-Neeson, who won the seat with a majority of 357 and well over half the popular vote. I can't even blame the silly Reform candidate for taking votes away from us! It wouldn't have made any difference. It is a shame, because the Conservative Administration is spending an absolute fortune in the ward, yet they keep electing Labour councillors who vote against it. Councillor Caira-Neeson returns to Basildon Council after a 22-year absence, having previously been a one-term Labour councillor for Langdon Hills between 1996 and 2000. That may very nearly be a record. The only person I can think of to match that would be Cllr. David Harrison (W-Ind, Wickford Park), who lost his seat in 1988 and did not return to the Council until 2014 (a 26-year hiatus).    

 

NETHERMAYNE – Ind HOLD

SMITH, Kerry (Ind) – 1,946 (70%) *Elected
WRIGHT, Dylan (Lab) – 402 (14%)
OKORAFOR, Chima (Con) – 334 (12%)
NICE, Stephen (LibD) – 106 (4%)

Turnout: 27% (-4)

Local demagogue Kerry Smith was, of course, comfortably re-elected to his Nethermayne seat, with a resounding majority of 1,544 (the largest majority of the night) and a freakishly massive 24-point swing to the Independents from last year - a testament to his titanic personal vote in the ward. Sadly, our candidate was pushed into third place by Labour, despite a 3-point drop in their own popular vote. Our vote was down a dispiriting 8 points on last year. Dear old Steve Nice for the Liberals got more or less exactly the same result as last year. The Smith phenomena continues.

 

PITSEA NORTH-WEST – Con GAIN form Lab

GASCOYNE, Sam (Con) – 931 (47%) *Elected
FERGUSON, Jack (Lab) – 911 (46%)
HOWARD, Martin (LibD) – 133 (7%)

Turnout: 21% (-4)

In easily the most stunning and dramatic result of the evening, the Leader of Basildon Labour, Jack Ferguson, lost his seat to first-time Conservative candidate and Internet sensation Sam Gascoyne, overturning a 300-plus Labour majority. As I said in my Runners & Riders blog, this was always going to be a tough fight for Jack Ferguson, as his predecessor only narrowly clung on last year with a badly reduced majority and then, when he quit only a few weeks later, we won the resultant by-election, electing Stuart Terson with a majority of 364. Stuart has since proved an exceptionally hard-working and highly visible ward councillor for Pitsea North-West and it is probably to him that Sam owes at least a portion of his electoral success, albeit with a rather more modest majority of just 20! For what it's worth, I regret that Sam winning his seat necessitated Jack losing his. Jack is actually a nice guy and is in politics for the right reasons, plays a reasonably straight bat and was certainly a far better leader than his ignominious predecessor. But that is politics... and Sam will be great!

 

PITSEA SOUTH-EAST – Con HOLD

MACKENZIE, Luke (Con) – 1,327 (60%) *Elected
BAKER, Michael (Lab) – 896 (40%)

Turnout: 25% (-5)

The Deputy Mayor of Basildon, Luke Mackenzie, was comfortably re-elected to his Pitsea South-East seat with a massively increased majority of 431 and 60% of the vote, in a two-horse race against Labour. The skuttlebutt from the campaign trail was that Labour threw everything at trying to retain Jack Ferguson's seat in North-West and barely touched South-East. Consequently, their vote share is down 5 points, while ours is up 13 points. I did not want to say anything in my Runners & Riders blog, lest it be held against him, but Luke is actually responsible for bringing me into politics, having recruited me over a decade ago, way back in 2010, when he was the organiser of Basildon & Billericay Young Conservatives and I was, believe it or not, still considered technically 'young'. He was a councillor at the time but I was elected in 2013, the year after he lost his seat. It was a delight to see him return to the Council in 2018 and I was chuffed to bits to see him re-elected last night.

 

WICKFORD CASTLEDON – Con HOLD

MYERS, Alex (Con) – 1,030 (52%) *Elected
WRIGHT, Matthew (Lab) – 458 (23%)
SANSOM, Charlie (WInd) – 420 (21%)
MOTT, Stewart (LibD) – 68 (3%)

Turnout: 31% (+1)

Alex Myers has been comfortably elected to replace retiring long-serving Tory stalwart Malcolm Buckley with a majority of 572 over Labour. Meanwhile, Basildon resident and Tory turncoat Charlie Sansom was relegated to what must have been a rather disappointing third place (made all the more galling by the fact that, prior to quitting the Tory Party in a fit of pique, he had been selected to stand in Pitsea North-West, which his replacement won that same evening). I hope, dear reader, that I shall not be judged too harshly for my schadenfreude but, while I have no strong personal animus against Charlie (I always tried to get on with him personally), I am unashamedly Dantean in my attitude to political defectors. I shall be fascinated to see what he does next. The Lib Dems made no impact here.

 

WICKFORD NORTH – Con HOLD

HOLLIMAN, Peter (Con) – 1,224 (42%) *Elected
HAMMOND, Trevor (WInd) – 1,115 (38%)
NEMETH, Joseph (Lab) – 415 (14%)
HOAD, Nicola (LibD) – 188 (6%)

Turnout: 30% (+3)

Peter Holliman was re-elected to Wickford North with a majority of 109, in what as quite a close contest with the Windies. Our vote share was down 10 points on last year, with the other three parties all doing slightly better but not enough to unseat Peter, who is now serving his third term as a Conservative councillor for Wickford North. The Liberal candidate was entirely negligible. Incidentally, this was the only ward in which turnout was actually up!

 

WICKFORD PARK – Con HOLD

JEFFERY, George – 874 (48%) *Elected
BALL, Alan – 598 (33%)
WEBB, Brenda - 348 (19%)

Turnout: 25% (-4)

George Jeffery was re-elected here with an increased majority of 276 over former Windy councillor Alan Ball. George is the youngest member of the Conservative Group and has just completed his first term of office but has already established himself as a stalwart for his ward. Mr. Ball's hopes of a comeback have been dashed, with Labour's paper candidate bringing up the rear.

 

CONCLUSION:

So another night of highs and lows. Clearly devastating to lose Chris Allen in Langdon Hills and we wish him well for the future. Hugely gratifying to see so many colleagues returned, however, and to have kept a majority on the Council and retained the Administration. We look forward to welcoming our two newly-elected members into our ranks - Cllr. Sam Gascoyne (Con, Pitsea N.-W.) and Cllr. Alex Myers (Con, Wickford Castledon). Overall, nationally, it does not seem to have been quite the disastrous bloodbath that many of the talking heads were predicting.

Clearly, this was a catastrophic night for Labour. In Basildon, they regained the third seat in Lee Chapel North, which had been held by an unaligned former Labour councillor, but lost their own leader in Pitsea North-West. Who will now lead the Labour Group at Basildon is anybody's guess. The smart money is on Cllr. Adele Brown (Lab, Fryerns) but she was MIA last night, just as she has been for over half the council meetings last year, and she served as Labour leader previously and was manifestly uncomfortable in the role. But I am not sure that leaves Labour colleagues with many options! Nationally, as well, Sir Keir Starmer will now be feeling the pressure. After twelve years of a Conservative Government and everything that has been going over the past few years, Labour should be much further ahead than they are. Some of the folderol they are campaigning on is, I think, not cutting through with voters in the way they seem to think it is.

Turnout across the Borough remains depressingly low, at 27% (3 points down on 2021!). As I mentioned earlier, the Conservatives won nearly half the popular vote across Basildon Borough (though all the parties vote shares were essentially static from last year).

Just enough time for some pointless stat-crunching! The single highest number of votes won by any borough candidate was yours truly (Con, Billericay East). I received 2,062 votes. The lowest was David Murray, the Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition candidate in Laindon Park, who received only 47 votes. He, not unsurprisingly, also has the lowest vote share (2%). The largest share of the vote went to Terri Sargent (Con, Crouch), who commanded 76% of the popular vote. The single largest majority (1,544) was won by Kerry Smith (Ind, Nethermayne). The honour of the smallest majority goes to Sam Gascoyne (Con, Pitsea North-West) at just 20 votes.

The Conservative Group will now hold our AGM and put together an Order Paper, including our nominees for Leader of the Council and Mayor of the Borough, to present to the Annual Meeting of Basildon Council scheduled for May 26th. In accordance with our stated aims, this Order Paper will restructure Basildon Council, dispensing with the Committee System and re-establishing the Cabinet. Basildon Conservatives will continue to use our strong mandate to build upon the positive improvements we have made over the past twelve months.

We are, as always, hugely grateful to everyone who voted for us.

Vote Schrader in Billericay East!

Andrew is seeking re-election for the third time

I hope you will support me on Thursday 5th May.

Nearly 9 years ago, the voters of Billericay East did me a tremendous honour by electing me to represent them as one of their three Basildon borough councillors. The by-election in June 2013 was triggered by the death of the indomitable Anthony Archer, who had represented Billericay East for nearly 30 years. He was first elected in 1982 (the year I was born) and, while I did not know Tony personally, I found on the doorstep that he was well-known and widely respected in the ward. He rightly held a reputation as a fierce advocate for the town and was a diligent ward councillor. He had served an incredible six terms in office, including serving as Leader of Basildon Council on two occasions. My two ward colleagues, David Dadds and Stuart Sullivan, are both veterans of the 2002 intake and have served the ward now for 20 years. So I still feel very much like 'the new kid on the block' and am conscious that I stand on the shoulders of giants.

"It has been a tumultous four years since you last re-elected me in 2018."

It has been a tumultous four years since you last re-elected me in 2018. The Council went from a Labour/UKIP coalition to Conservative-control, back to another Labour-led alliance and back to Conservative again, causing great political instability. The important thing for our town, however, has been that every time the Labour Party have been able to take control, they have proceeded to strip investment and funding out of Billericay and redirect it to their marginal wards, treating our town like a cash cow, that exists only to fund vainglorious pet projects and expensive fripperies, like the former Labour Leader's crackpot idea for a massive sports stadium in Basildon Town Centre and the cash-guzzling 'Youth Zone'. It was an era of brazen pork barrel politics in Basildon and that's before we even get into all the money that was wasted on pointless naval-gazing internal reorganisations at Basildon Council, sabre-rattling over unitary status and the thousands that was spent erecting Maoist-style portraits of the Leader at the Council offices.

When we briefly regained administration in 2018, I was appointed to my first frontbench post as Chairman of Economic Development & Growth. I enjoyed the portfolio, particularly my regular meetings with local businesses and entrepreneurs and my tours of our industrial estates and commercial premises. I was amazed at the vitality and innovation across the Borough. I also relaunched the Pathways to Success Panel, looking at apprenticeships and training, and set up The Advice Store in Basildon Town Centre, of which I remain enormously proud.

On an estate walkabout with some of my Housing officers

Since taking power again last year, I have been Chairman of Housing & Estate Renewal. Nothing could have prepared me for the challenges of this portfolio but I have derived a great deal of satisfaction from dealing with those challenges. I have been piloting through the Conservative's flagship Safe & Sound programme, which is an exciting long-term plan to invest £40m in estate improvements across the borough. I have also presided over this Administration's ambitious social housing programme and am proud that we have delivered 125 new high quality homes for social rent, including the 94 new homes I viewed at Acorn House - which was a fascinating experience, as years ago I actually worked there! I have added an additional 200 homes to the Council's house-build programme over the next 2 years and Sempra, the Council's wholly-owned company, has also delivered 43 new homes in Billericay, Basildon and Wickford and has a programme of 255 new homes currently in the works; part of an overall pipeline of 1,100 new homes.

Our new sheltered scheme at Affletts Court (close to my heart, as my late grandmother used to live there) is going to achieve the extremely high energy efficient Passivhaus standard and will be used as a demonstration project for the energy efficiency we will be able to achieve on future schemes. All these new homes are designed to be generally accessible to people with mobility disabilities and some are specifically designed to be suitable for wheelchair users.

Another particular focus for me this year has been homelessness. The pandemic brought many unforeseen challenges and the Government responded very positively with the Everyone In campaign. As a Council, we are looking at what else we can do to ensure we tackling homelessness. To that end, we successfully bid for a grant from Homes England and have been awarded £415,000 to support the conversion of a disused building in Pitsea to deliver nearly 20 new homes. It is actually a rather handsome 1920s building and was previously the Nevendon County Primary School (the building still has two entrances at either end, one with 'Boys' written above it and the other with 'Girls and Infants', which we are going to keep). I have named it 'Nevendon Place', as a nod to the old school, and the facility will be used as temporary housing for former rough sleepers, working in partnership with Peabody and the Salvation Army. The construction work has commenced and the scheme will be operational later this year. 

"Serving you is still my first duty and my greatest pleasure and I hope you will re-elect me so that I can go on serving you."

It has been a hugely enjoyable and rewarding four years. As someone who grew up in Billericay and whose family have lived here for six generations, it has been an enormous privilege to serve this community. My role as a councillor has brought me many responsibilities but my favourite part of the role remains the casework I take up on behalf of my constituents in Billericay East. Serving you is still my first duty and my greatest pleasure and I hope you will re-elect me so that I can go on serving you.

At the upcoming local elections, the stakes for Billericay will be high. Here are some of the key local issues for you to consider as you ponder your ballot paper.

 

CONSERVATIVES WITHDREW LABOUR'S FLAWED LOCAL PLAN

Conservative councillors voted to pull the flawed Local Plan drawn up and submitted by Labour and their (so-called) 'Independent' backers. In February, it was crunch time for the Submission Local Plan. We all knew that Labour had saddled us with a bad plan but, despite huge pressure and emboldened by the positive noises being made by Central Government, with renewed emphasis on the need to protect the Green Belt, Basildon Borough Conservatives listened to residents and voted to withdraw the Local Plan. We have been clear in our ongoing objections to inflated housing numbers, challenging this at the highest level, and we have consistently opposed the loss of Green Belt.

Basildon Labour and the Independents voted to keep their plan, which dumps on Billericay. If they regain control of the Council, be in no doubt, they will resurrect it. Conservatives are committed to producing a new Draft Local Plan, in consultation with local people, that works for them and delivers the critical infrastructure needed to make development sustainable.

ONLY A VOTE FOR THE CONSERVATIVES WILL PROTECT THE GREEN BELT AND KEEP LABOUR'S PLAN IN THE DUSTBIN.

 

I VOTED TO KEEP TAXES LOW

I know that times are hard. It was inevitable that, with the rising cost of Social Care and increased funding for policing, that the Essex County Council part of the Council Tax would be going up, along with the precept for the Police and the Fire Brigade. That is why I voted to FREEZE the Basildon Council precept. We are also freezing parking charges in all council-owned car parks, including the Main Car Park in Billericay High Street, to help boost our local retail sector, and we are also freezing charges for council-run community halls. Despite this, we have still been able to make significant investment in the essential local services we provide to residents.

ONLY THE CONSERVATIVES' PRUDENT FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ALLOWS FOR FREEZES WHILST STILL INVESTING IN LOCAL SERVICES.

 

 

I AM PUSHING FOR MORE HIGHWAYS IMPROVEMENTS

I met with Cllr. Lee Scott, Essex Cabinet Member for Highways, right here in Billericay East. We all know that the state of our roads is not right and I appreciated Councillor Scott coming and seeing this for himself. We have since seen a marked increase in repairs locally. I enjoy an extremely close working relationship with my Essex counterpart, Cllr. Anthony Hedley, who represents Billericay on the County Council. Together, he and I continue to lobby Essex Highways for more to be done and we are proactive in reporting and highlighting repairs.

ONLY THE CONSERVATIVES CAN DELIVER MORE HIGHWAYS REPAIRS.

 

I AM DELIVERING MORE INVESTMENT IN PARKS AND OPEN SPACES

I, along with fellow Billericay councillors, have lobbied extensively for investment in the town's parks, play areas and open spaces - following plans under the last Labour Administration to close over 50 local play areas. Now, with a Conservative Administration in place, we have secured £120,000 of investment in numerous small residential play areas across the town. We have also secured nearly £89,000 for improved facilities at the much-loved Hannakins Farm community centre and there is to be significant investment in Lake Meadows, including provision of a new skate park. Specifically in Billericay East, £60,000 has been allocated for improvements to the Outwood Common Open Space.

ONLY THE CONSERVATIVES WILL INVEST IN BILLERICAY.

 

I AM FIGHTING CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

I know that residents are increasingly worried about crime and ASB in our town. I have consistently voted for more money to be spent on policing and, in the most recent Basildon budget, I voted in favour of the creation of a new team of Community Safety Wardens, who will operate in tandem with Essex Police and our existing Park Wardens to boost enforcement, tackle fly-tipping and disrupt illegal activity across Billericay. Nationally, we are also taking firm action on illegally immigration and curbing the outrageous activities of climate protesters. Unfortunately, Labour and the Liberal Democrats are consistently soft on crime and always on the side of the law-breakers rather than the hard-working law-abiding British public.

ONLY THE CONSERVATIVES ARE TOUGH ON LAW AND ORDER.

 

I AM SUPPORTING EFFORTS TO KEEP OUR TOWN TIDY

I voted through the funds to maintain the Pride Teams (which the previous Administration had only funded for a year). They are doing superb work across Billericay, fixing disrepair and cutting back overgrowth. More is needed, so I recently voted in favour of expanding the Pride Teams so that they can get to more parts of the town. This is in addition to the £40m programme of estate improvements I have piloted through as Chairman of Housing & Estate Renewal. We also brought the Highways Rangers into the Pride Teams to maximise their impact.

ONLY THE CONSERVATIVES WILL CLEAN UP BILLERICAY.

 

Local Elections 2022

It's that time of the year again.

Local elections are in the air and that means my much-anticipated annual Runners & Riders blog

Current composition of Basildon Borough Council:

Basildon Council has 42 councillors across 16 wards and holds elections three out of every four years, electing a third of the seats each time. There are fourteen seats up for grabs this year. (NB: there are no elections in St. Martin's or Vange because they are smaller two-member wards). The fate of each one will help determine who controls the Council. The Conservatives took back administration in May last year, following two years of No Overall Control. The Conservatives have consistently remained the largest group on the Council but it was run by a so-called 'Labour and Independent Alliance', who when banded together just narrowly outnumbered us. That changed in May 2021, when we gained crucial seats in Laindon Park, Langdon Hills, Pitsea South-East, Vange and St Martin’s, the latter costing the then Labour Mayor his seat.

At present, Basildon Council consists of 25 Conservatives, 10 Labour, 4 'Independents' (a faction led by former UKIP councillor Kerry Smith), 2 Wickford Independents, and 1 non-aligned member (former Labour councillor Elaine McDonald, who left the Labour Group under a somewhat mysterious cloud but probably related to the fact she is an avowed Corbynite at a time when that is out of vogue in Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party). So, currently, the Conservative Administration enjoys a working majority of three.

The magic number for an overall majority at Basildon is 22 seats – this is the minimum number of seats needed to command an overall majority and form an administration. This year, we Tories are the victims of our own success in 2018, defending ten seats, with Labour defending just three and the aforementioned Kerry Smith fighting re-election in is own seat.

Once again, Basildon Conservatives are fielding a full slate of candidates in every seat, the only party to have consistently done so. This time, Labour are also contesting every seat for the first time in years, indicating the 'non-aggression pact' with the Wickford Independents expired along with Gavin Callaghan's leadership.

The Basildon Community Residents Party (BCRP - pr. 'Be Cr*p'), who fielded candidates for the first time in the local elections last year, announced last month that they would not be standing in these elections. What a loss. As I suspected, this anti-Tory front have collapsed under the weight of their own contradictions. For all BCRP's bluster about the need for a politics-free independent residents' party, they ultimately just became another hard-left fringe group, riddled with Marxists dinosaurs and politically homeless Corbynistas driven out of Labour and left carping from the sidelines. The word on the street is that most of their activists and former candidates lost interest and wandered off. Even their leader went on holiday during his own by-election campaign and spent most of his time at left-wing rallies rather than campaigning in his ward. I suspect that's the last we'll see of them.

We have only one Reform UK candidate this year and two Smithite Independents. UKIP have disappeared again but there is one far-right British Democrat and a far-left Trade Unionist and Socialist. Notable by their absence are the candidates that the Billericay & District Residents' Association has said they would field this year. The BDRA, who previously held seats in Billericay in the 1970s and '80s, had announced in The Resident their intention to stand candidates in the three Billericay seats but have not done so. At one point, the BDRA held nine seats on Basildon Council but had lost all of them by 1984 and have not contested local elections in nearly 40 years. Their threat to stand was prompted by the unpopular Local Plan and their failure to do so can almost certainly be explained by the decision of the Council to withdraw the plan in February. 

If you are not sure which ward/division you come under, click here and enter your postcode.

 Parties standing / No. of candidates

The Conservative Party x14
The Labour Party x14
The Liberal Democrats x10
The Wickford Independents x3
Independents (Smithites) x2
Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition x1
The British Democrats x1

 

 

Here are the runners and riders locally: Incumbents are marked with an ‘*’

 

BILLERICAY EAST

• BUNYAN, Peter (Labour)
• CLARK, Laura (Liberal Democrats)
• SCHRADER, Andrew (Conservative)*

Cllr. Andrew Schrader

Yours truly (pictured) is seeking re-election in Billericay East for the third time. I am currently Chairman of the Housing and Estate Renewal Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee. I also sit on the Strategic Planning and Infrastructure Committee. I have represented Billericay East since a by-election in 2013 and am proud to be seeking a third term. It has been an incredible four years and I feel so privileged to represent this community. After two years of neglect by the Labour-led council, we are finally seeing investment return to Billericay, with more money for our parks, play areas and open spaces and investment in our public realm. Nothing could have prepared me for chairing Housing and managing that busy portfolio. It has been an incredible eye-opener but a very rewarding one. I have really enjoyed getting to grips with the brief. Peter Bunyan is standing as a first-time candidate for Labour, while Lib Dem town councillor Laura Clark is standing here, having contested Burstead last year. I am defending a 78% share of the vote and a majority of 2,029 votes but I take nothing for granted. I hope I have done enough to retain the residents' confidence.

 

BILLERICAY WEST

• BUNYAN, Sally (Labour)
• HEDLEY, Anthony (Conservative)*
• NICKLIN, Timothy (Liberal Democrats)

Cllr. Anthony Hedley

Tony Hedley (pictured) is seeking re-election in Billericay West for the sixth time. He has represented the seat since 2000, making him one of our longest-serving councillors. Tony is currently Deputy Leader of the Council and Chairman of the Regeneration and Economic Development Committee. He also serves as an Essex county councillor for Billericay & Burstead. Sally Bunyan is standing for the first time for Labour (wife of Peter Bunyan, standing in the neighbouring Billericay East seat). Somewhat astonishingly, the previous Lib Dem candidate, who nearly had us on the ropes in Billericay West, recently announced that he was planning to move away from the town and had decided not to stand. The Liberals have, somewhat bizarrely, selected Dr. Tim Nicklin as their candidate. Dr. Nicklin lives in Langdon Hills and stood there last year, coming seventh out of eight, with just 6% of the vote. Presumably none of the handful of Liberals elected to Billericay Town Council last year fancied a run at the borough seat, so instead they are fielding an out-of-towner against a Tory incumbent who is a local resident and has represented the seat for over two decades. I think that is what Sir Humphry Appleby would call a "courageous" decision. Part of our problem in West, of course, was that our councillors were hard-working but not 'visible'. Tony recently joined Facebook, however, and has blazed a trail for all of us. Not only is he now much more accessible (and goodness knows he's raking in the casework!), he is able to showcase all the hard work he does behind the scenes. I should say that I am biased. I regard Tony as my political mentor. He nurtured me when I was first elected nine years ago, took me under his wing, showed me the ropes, and I have never known anyone as dedicated and passionate about serving his constituents. Billericay West quite simply could not hope for a better councillor than Tony Hedley. He is defending a majority of 2,149 (an 81% share of the vote in 2018).

 

 

BURSTEAD

• BAGGOTT, Andrew (Conservative)*
• DAFFIN, Christopher (Liberal Democrats)
• REID, Malcolm (Labour)

Cllr. Andrew Baggott

The Boss, Andy Baggott (pictured), is seeking re-election in Burstead for the second time, having represented the seat since 2014. He is currently Leader of Basildon Council and Chairman of the Policy Executive Committee and the Enforcement and Public Order Committee. Christopher Daffin is standing as a first-time candidate for the Lib Dems, while Labour are once again putting up paper candidate Malcolm Reid, husband of Pitsea councillor Pat Reid. This is Mr. Reid's fourth election; his second time contesting Burstead. Andy is defending a majority of 2,405 (83% of the vote in 2018) in what is generally considered the safest seat on the Council. Andy, who was previously Leader of the Council from 2018 to 2019, suffered a stroke in February 2021 but has made a strong recovery and took up the reigns of power again last May and has shown himself to be in fine fettle and provided strong leadership over the past eleven months, most notably the withdrawal of the Local Plan. He is now fighting fit and raring to go.

 

CROUCH

• HILTON, Tracey (Labour)
• SARGENT, Terri (Conservative)*

Cllr. Terri Sargent

Terri Sargent is seeking re-election in Crouch for the fifth time, having represented the seat since its creation in 2002. She is currently Chairman of the Communities and Well-Being Committee. There is no Lib Dem candidate, so this is very much a two-horse race, with Tracey Hilton standing for Labour as the only other candidate in Crouch. Ms Hilton previously contested Billericay East last year and Billericay West in 2019. Terri is defending a majority of 1,102 (74% of the vote in 2018). She has now represented the seat for 20 years and remains as industrious and hard-working for her residents as ever.

 

FRYERNS

• HOWARD, Vivien (Liberal Democrats)
• KIRKMAN, David (Labour)*
• SANDHU, Sandeep (Conservative)

Sandeep Sandhu

Labour's David Kirkman is defending this traditionally staunch Labour seat in Basildon. He currently sits on the Licensing Committee and the Scrutiny Committee. I must confess, I am a bit surprised to see he is seeking re-election, as we had been told he is ill and incapacitated. He hasn't attended a meeting since September last year and it was only because a dispensation was granted, on compassionate grounds, that his prolonged absences did not trigger an automatic by-election. I had rather assumed he would stand down at this point. I am obviously hugely sympathetic to anyone who is suffering from ill health, and it is possible he has since made a recovery (if so, good for him), but it is hard not to avoid the feeling that the residents of Fryerns are being rather short-changed by their Labour councillors, particularly when you consider that Councillor Kirkman's ward colleague, Adele Brown, is hardly picking up the slack! She also has an extremely poor attendance record (she has attended less than half the meetings at which she was expected over the past year) and an FOI request reveals she has logged no casework in the last two years. Our candidate, Sandeep Sandhu (pictured), is a local man and an engineer by trade, who would be a hard worker for Fryerns. He came second last time, being within a couple of hundred votes of replacing Councillor Brown. Viv Howard is standing once again for the Liberals, having stood here the last two elections in a row. This is actually Mrs Howard's fifteenth election. Like her husband, Martin, Mrs Howard is a perennial Liberal candidate and has stood in the Liberal interest in five different ward around the Borough since 1998. Councillor Kirkman is defending a majority of 312 (49% of the vote in 2018).

 

LAINDON PARK

• BATEMAN, Christopher (British Democrats)
• GODDARD, David (Labour)
• HENRY, Jeff (Conservative)*
• McCARTHY, Stephen (Liberal Democrats)
• MURRAY, David (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)

Cllr. Jeff Henry

Popular local councillor Jeff Henry is seeking re-election in Laindon Park, having first been elected in 2018. He currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Leisure and Environment Committee and also sits on the Communities and Well-Being Committee, the Regeneration and Economic Development Committee and the Housing and Estate Renewal Committee. On top of all that, he is also an Essex county councillor, chairing their Health Overview Policy and Scrutiny Committee and also sitting on the People and Families Policy and Scrutiny Committee and is the County rep' on the Mid and South Essex NHS Trust. To say that Jeff keeps himself busy is an understatement! On top of all that, he recently took on a position as a non-executive director of Sempra Homes, the Council's wholly-owned house-building company and, under his watchful eye, Sempra has delivered 43 new homes in Basildon. He also saved Laindon Community Centre and, just this last week, was instrumental in unclogging a logjam that was holding up the redevelopment of Laindon Town Centre. Although a somewhat sardonic, soft-spoken Ulsterman, Jeff has lived in and loved Laindon for 30-odd years and is a dyed-in-the-wool Laindoner and proud resident of the Five Links Estate. Laindon runs through him like a stick of rock. His Labour challenger is David Goddard, who previously contested Billericay West last year and Nethermayne in 2019. Cris Bateman is back, having previously stood for the rather nasty ‘For Britain’ but now standing under the equally unpleasant 'British Democrats', whose policies include ending all immigration and reinstating the death penalty. Stephen McCarthy is standing again for the Lib Dems, having contested the seat last year, and arch-socialist David Murray is standing once again for the ultra left-wing Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition. This is Mr. Murray's sixth election since 1995 and his third on behalf of TUSC. He has been out of the Labour Party for 30 years and has always stood on a far-left platform (first as 'Militant Labour' and then under various socialist banners). Jeff is defending a majority of 156 (44% of the vote in 2018).

 

LANGDON HILLS

• ALLEN, Christopher (Conservative)*
• BROWN, Walter (Independent)
• MAY, Christopher (Liberal Democrats)
• ZWENGUNDE, Clarence (Labour)

Cllr. Chris Allen

Chris Allen (pictured), is fighting re-election after only a year in office, having won the Langdon Hills by-election last year, occasioned by the death in office of Independent (Smithite) councillor Imelda Clancy. Chris has hit the ground running and already has one of the highest casework rates of any elected member on Basildon Council. Unfortunately, he may have an uphill struggle for re-election, owing to Langdon Hills' having been treated as a personal 'pocket ward' of ex-'Kipper Kerry Smith in recent years. Langdon Hills was previously a staunch Conservative heartland but has fallen into a pattern of voting Tory nationally but 'Independent' locally. Two seats were contested simultaneously in 2021, with the Smithite, Val Robbins, topping the poll. But she was only 74 votes ahead of Chris. Chris was deemed to have won the by-election and therefore simply finishes off the term of the late Councillor Clancy. As she would have been up this year, Chris must now fight re-election and, this time, there won't be any split votes. This means he will be in a straight head-to-head with Walt Brown, Councillor Smith's chosen cipher for this election. It will be a real shame if Chris does not retain his seat, and certainly no reflection on him! An FOI request reveals that, while Chris has logged over 200 items of casework since he was elected in May, his Smithite counterpart, who was elected at the same time, has logged only 50 or so. So there is no doubt about it, Chris has worked his socks off in the ward and secured a number of early wins, including securing funding for improvements to play areas and open spaces in the ward. Clarence Zwengunde is standing for Labour again for the second time in Langdon Hills (his fourth election) but, bizarrely, Christopher May is standing here as a first-time borough candidate for the Lib Dems. This compounds the mystery of why Langdon Hills resident and former Langdon Hills candidate Tim Nicklin is now standing in Billericay West, where Cllr. May is a sitting town councillor. This is quite the illogical switcheroo! Chris Allen is nominally defending a 40% vote share from the 2021 local elections.

 

LEE CHAPEL NORTH

• CAIRA-NEESON, Susanna (Labour)
• SAGGERS, Norma (Reform UK)
• SHUKLA, Deepak (Conservative)

Deepak Shukla

Elaine McDonald won the seat for Labour in 2018 with an impressive majority of 791 (56% of the vote) but, as advised earlier, she has left the Labour Party (or the Labour Party has left her) and they announced recently that she was 'retiring', or in any event being retired (take your pick). Susanna Caira-Neeson, a former one-term Labour councillor for Langdon Hills (1996-2000), has been selected to replace her but she may not find this traditional Labour safe seat quite the cake walk it once was. Our candidate is Deepak Shukla (pictured), a resident of Lee Chapel North, who stood here last year and came a tantalisingly close second, being just 45 votes behind Labour. Deepak would be an exceptionally hard worker for the ward, which has been taken for granted and largely ignored by Labour councillors for far too long. There is no Lib Dem candidate but plucky Norma Saggers is standing here as the only Reform UK candidate left in the whole borough. She previously contested Nethermayne for the party last year and was a UKIP candidate in Langdon Hills in 2018. Sadly, the lack of a Lib Dem candidate here and the presence of Ms Saggers is quite likely to split the right-wing vote and let Labour back in. This is a shame, as Lee Chapel North is dying for some real representation and we're within less than 50 votes of winning it!  

 

NETHERMAYNE

• NICE, Stephen (Liberal Democrats)
• OKORAFOR, Chima (Conservative)
• SMITH, Kerry (Independent)*
• WRIGHT, Dylan (Labour)

Chima Okorafor

The indefatigable Kerry Smith is seeking re-election for the second time in his Nethermayne fortress. Councillor Smith has had a storied and bizarre political career, having originally fought the ward for UKIP back when it was still a Lib Dem stronghold and personal fiefdom of the Williams family back in 2010. It took him four years but he eventually won it in 2014, the year the 'Kippers swept the board and won everything outside true-blue Billericay, becoming the main Opposition party overnight, with Councillor Smith as their Group Leader. In 2013, he had also won the county seat. Within a year, however, his political career imploded after a scandal led to him being first deselected, re-selected and then 're-deselected' as a parliamentary candidate, and ultimately forced to resign from the party. But it did nothing to dent his personal popularity in the ward and he has gone from strength to hideous strength and he was re-elected to his county seat in 2017 and in Nethermayne in 2018 as an Independent, with a stonking majority of 2,109 (77% of the vote). The truth is that Nethermayne was never really a ward made up of 'Liberal' voters, but rather anti-establishment protest voters and they don't come much more anti-establishment than Kerry Smith. He was joined initially by his late mother and has now amassed a motley crew of followers, who call themselves the 'Independent Group' on Basildon Council. There have generally been three or four of them at any given time over the past few years, which has enabled Councillor Smith to act as a sort of 'Kingmaker' when the Council is hung and, on the last two occasions, he has helped put Labour in power in exchange for some trappings of office, serving as Deputy Leader of the Council under the Alliance. Seeking to make a dent in that seemingly unassailable majority is plucky first-time candidate Chima Okorafor (pictured). Chima is fighting his first election and would serve Nethermayne well. He is particularly opposed to the huge tower blocks that Kerry Smith supported under the last Administration. Labour are fielding first-time candidate Dylan Wright, while veteran Lib Dem candidate Steve Nice is back here for the third election running (his twelfth election since 2002).

 

PITSEA NORTH-WEST

• FERGUSON, Jack (Labour)*
• GASCOYNE, Sam (Conservative)
• HOWARD, Martin (Liberal Democrat)

Sam Gascoyne

The Labour Leader of the Opposition, Jack Ferguson, is defending his Pitsea North-West seat, which he won in 2018 with a majority of 301 (47% of the vote). Councillor Ferguson may well be feeling nervous, however, as his predecessor, Gavin Callaghan, only narrowly clung on to his seat last year, with his majority more than halved, only to then dramatically resign from the Council a few weeks later, triggering a by-election which Labour then lost, with Conservative candidate Stuart Terson winning the seat with a majority of 364 (57% of the vote). Since then, Councillor Terson, who has only been a councillor since July, has racked up nearly 200 pieces of casework, while over the last year Councillor Ferguson has logged only just over 50. We are hoping that Sam Gascoyne will join Stuart as another hard-working councillor for Pitsea North-West. He recently became something of an Internet sensation after doorbell footage of an awkward encounter with a resident went viral, in which Sam innocently mistook a 24-year-old resident for a child and asked "Are Mum and Dad in?". The baby-faced resident's brother posted it online but, fortunately, he saw the funny side. A canvassing story for the ages. Nearly as good as the one in which I got chased down a driveway by a feral goose. But that's for another time, dear reader. Martin Howard returns as our perennial Lib Dem candidate. Believe it or not, Mr. Howard has stood in more elections than any other candidate (but never won a seat) - nineteen elections in four different seats since 1973, originally standing for the old Liberal Party in Burstead. This is his fourteenth try at Pitsea North-West.

 

PITSEA SOUTH-EAST

• BAKER, Michael (Labour)
• MACKENZIE, Luke (Conservative)*

Cllr. Luke Mackenzie

Deputy Mayor Luke Mackenzie is seeking re-election in Pitsea South-East, which he won in 2018. Luke has served for the past year as Deputy Mayor of Basildon and Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee. He is also been an Essex county councillor for Pitsea since last year. He has been working tirelessly, along with his ward colleague, Craig Rimmer, to progress the stalled swimming pool project and to fight crime and anti-social behaviour in Pitsea. He has had good success with both, with a new swimming pool now coming to Eversley, as promised, and just a few weeks ago a new Public Safety Protection Order was introduced. Last year, Luke and Craig were joined by Gary Canham, making Pitsea South-East an all-blue ward for the first time since 2012. They will be seeking to keep it that way by getting Luke re-elected. With no Lib Dem candidate, this is a straight two-horse race between Luke and the Labour candidate, Michael Baker, who previously contested Nethermayne last year. Luke is defending a majority of 157 (47% of the vote in 2018). 

 

WICKFORD CASTLEDON

• MOTT, Stewart (Liberal Democrats)
• MYERS, Alex (Conservative)
• SANSOM, Charlie (Wickford Independents)
• WRIGHT, Matthew (Labour)

Alex Myers

Veteran Wickford councillor Malcolm Buckley is retiring after an incredible 30 years of service to the town. Well-known local man and community activist Alex Myers has been selected to replace him but has very large shoes to fill. His opponents are Stewart Mott, standing for the Lib Dems, who has just become a Wickford town councillor in the inaugural (and shamefully uncontested) elections to that newly-created body. Matthew Wright is standing as a first-time Labour candidate. In a truly bizarre move, Charlie Sansom is standing for the Wickford Independents. Oddities abound, dear reader, but this is odder than most! Some of you may remember Charlie as a Conservative candidate in South Basildon last year, who dramatically quit the Tory Party in December, having become increasingly 'cranky' over the Government's approach to Covid-19, getting rather overexcited about 'mask mandates' and 'vaccine passports' and denouncing the Government in somewhat hysterical terms as "tyrants". He is quite a big personality and, for what it's worth, I quite liked him but many of us found his inability to take advice frustrating. When he quit, he did so in a typically boisterous fashion, announcing it live on air, throwing many of his erstwhile colleagues who had supported him and campaigned for him under a bus. He didn't so much 'burn his bridges' as nuke them from outer space. He has since become a disappointingly mendacious critic of the Administration. He likes the limelight and enjoys a good dust up, so I suppose it was inevitable he'd rock up as a candidate somewhere but quite what possessed him to stand here of all places is anybody's guess (I haven't spoken to him since he quit). If he has any connexions to Wickford, they are unknown to me. He certainly doesn't live there. Perhaps more mystifying is why the Windies accepted him as a candidate. He's a bit 'off-brand' for them, given they pride themselves on being for Wickford and of Wickford and 'free from party politics' (Charlie is none of those things!). Of course, their leader, David Harrison, has stood under just about every party banner going. None of them stuck, I suspect because Councillor Harrison does not play particularly well with others. Neither does Charlie. Honestly? I can't see them getting along. Anyway, Alex will be nominally defending Malcolm's 625 majority (59% of the vote in 2018) and will be a fantastic councillor for Wickford Castledon.

 

WICKFORD NORTH

• HAMMOND, Trevor (Wickford Independents)
• HOAD, Nicola (Liberal Democrats)
• HOLLIMAN, Peter (Conservative)*
• NEMETH, Joseph (Labour)

Cllr. Peter Holliman

Peter Holliman (pictured) is seeking re-election in Wickford North for the second time, having first been elected in 2014. He currently sits on the Regeneration and Economic Development Committee. Shotgate parish councillor Trevor Hammond is standing as a first-time borough candidate for the Windies and Joseph Nemeth is likewise a first-time Labour candidate, while Nicola Hoad is standing again for the Lib Dems (she was also elected unopposed to the new Wickford Town Council in this year's uncontested inaugural elections). Peter is avuncular and well-liked. He is defending a majority of 426 (57% of the vote in 2018).

 

WICKFORD Park

• BALL, Alan (Wickford Independents)
• JEFFERY, George (Conservative)*
• WEBB, Brenda (Labour)

Cllr. George Jeffery

George Jeffery (pictured) is seeking re-election in Wickford Park, to which he was elected in 2018 as the youngest councillor on Basildon Council at the age of 21. He is currently Chairman of the Joint Standards Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee and recently graduated from university. George is, bar none, the hardest working councillor in Wickford, logging over 200 items of casework in the last year alone. His opponent at this election is Alan Ball, who was elected as a UKIP councillor for Wickford Castledon in 2014 before defecting and co-founding the Wickford Independents a year later. He lost his seat in 2018 and failed to get re-elected in 2019. He stood in Wickford North last year and is trying Wickford Park this year. Basildon resident Brenda Webb, wife of Labour councillor Terry Webb, is a first-time Labour candidate, presumably standing in Wickford as a paper candidate. There is no Lib Dem. George is defending a majority of 191 (48% of the vote in 2018).

 

TRIVIA

We have two married couples standing this year: Peter and Sally Bunyan (Lab, Billericay East and Billericay West) and Martin and Vivien Howard (Lib Dem, Pitsea North-West and Fryerns). Malcolm Reid (Lab, Burstead) is also the husband of Cllr. Pat Reid (Lab, Pitsea North-West) and Brenda Webb (Lab, Wickford Park) is the wife of Cllr. Terry Webb (Lab, Lee Chapel North).

Martin Howard (Lib Dem, Pitsea North-West) is fighting his nineteenth election - more than any other candidate. He first stood for Basildon Council in 1973! He also holds the dubious distinction of having fought the most elections without ever winning a seat.

We have two former councillors seeking to rejoin Basildon Council: Alan Ball (WI, Wickford Park) and Susanna Caira-Neeson (Lab, Lee Chapel North). Neither of them are standing in seats they previously represented, though I believe the old ward boundaries for Langdon Hills used to include parts of the current Lee Chapel North ward where Ms Caira-Neeson is standing.

We have thirteen candidates who, to the best of my knowledge, are fighting their first election campaigns.

We have two retiring councillors this year – Malcolm Buckley (Con, Wickford Castledon) and Elaine McDonald (n/a, Lee Chapel North). Malcolm has spent 30 years on the Council, representing Wickford South from 1988 to 2002 and then Wickford Castledon from 2002 to 2014 and again from 2018 to now. He was Deputy Leader under the late Tony Archer from 1992 to 1994 and then served as Leader himself from 2002 to 2009. His late wife, Sylvia, was also a Conservative Councillor in Wickford from 1990 to 1994 and then again from 1998 until her sad death in 2013. Malcolm remains an Essex county councillor for the Wickford Crouch Division, which he has represented since 2013. Elaine McDonald was elected in 2018 in Lee Chapel North and seemed a friendly enough sort, albeit clearly very left-wing indeed.

A vaguery of these elections is that councillors are normally elected to four-year terms but everyone elected this year is effectively standing for a two-year term, as Basildon is due to undergo a Boundary Review. So everyone elected in May this year will have to fight re-election under the new boundaries, along with every other councillor, in the all-in election scheduled for 2024 (and who knows if their seat will still exist?). Could be worse. Any poor sod who stands next year will have to do it all again the following year.

A 'dishonourable mention' should go to Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet Parish Council and the brand spanking new Wickford Town Council, both of which were due to be holding elections this year at the same time as the borough elections but both of which have been 'uncontested', which is a posh way of saying that, as usual, our parish councils are largely self-appointed unelected bodies. The Wickford Town Council was literally only just created, after extensive lobbying by some Wickford residents. It is supposed to elect 20 town councillors, making it the second largest parish council in the Borough after Billericay Town Council and, like that council, unusual for a parish council in that it was big enough to be warded. As it stands, only 18 people have put themselves forward for WTC, so there will be no elections. So Wickford will now have these eighteen people swanning about town, calling themselves 'councillors', with a platform and a budget of taxpayers' money to spend, precepted from your Council Tax through their new council, whom NOBODY ELECTED! Likewise, Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet PC is supposed to have 7 parish councillors but only 3 have put themselves forward. These vacancies may all now be filled by 'co-option' (a euphemism for the sitting councillors voting their chums onto the council) or simply left vacant. I'm not even sure the last time BGNBPC had contested elections. I think it may have been over a decade. But there should be a law - two successive uncontested elections and there's a referendum to abolish the parish council! Rant over.

Local bank branch closures

John Baron MP presses HSBC to stop closure of branch in Billericay

Banks are increasingly closing local branches but what about the elderly and vulnerable?

 

HSBC have just announced that they will be closing their Billericay High Street branch. As you all know, the branch is in my ward and many of my constituents use the branch.

Our local constituency Member of Parliament, John Baron MP, was informed of the decision in writing by HSBC and has criticised the decision, which has been taken as part of a wider programme of branch closures across the country, consisting of sixty-nine branches in total. Customers will be written to formally on May 30th to inform them of alternative services, but we have been advised that administration of customer accounts will ultimately be transferred to the Basildon Town Centre branch. 

John said: “This is disappointing news. The nearest alternative branch is nearly 5 miles away which will prove problematic for elderly and vulnerable customers who rely on in-branch services to manage their money. Furthermore, the town’s population is increasing. I have written to the Chief Executive of HSBC asking them to change their decision and will be meeting with the local management team.” 

As the local ward councillor, I very much share John's concerns, so shall be liaising closely with his office over the issue. HSBC are, of course, not unique and they are not the first bank to close their local branch (which are fast becoming an endangered species in a great many high streets!). I think I broadly recognise that, for the banks, much has changed. In their letter, they advise that over the past five years the number of customers using branches has fallen by a third, nine in ten customers now do their banking online or over the phone, and 99% of all cash withdrawals are made at a cashpoint. So these trends were already well-established, even before the Covid-19 pandemic, which of course prompted most of the hold-outs, like myself, to finally give up the ghost and get to grips with online banking (I am a terrible Luddite in such matters).  

Nonetheless, if you or somebody you know is affected by this decision, please do get in touch with me at andrew.schrader@members.basildon.gov.uk or by calling 07769 651708. There is support available through various agencies and banks themselves can offer 'financial education' (i.e., show you how to bank online). HSBC are offering one to one appointments to provide support, including training on telephone and internet banking and can even provide vulnerable customers with free tablet devices.  

Many services, such as withdraw cash, checking balances, and depositing cheques, can also be accessed from the local Post Office.

 

**UPDATE** MP meets with HSBC

John Baron discussed closure of Billericay branch during visit  

HSBC agree to help vulnerable constituents

 

Following the recent announcement that HSBC are to close their Billericay High Street branch, John Baron, MP for Basildon & Billericay, paid the branch a visit and met with Karen Collier, Local Director, to discuss the closure, which was announced as part of a wider branch closure programme consisting of sixty-nine branches across the UK.

 

"We agreed a number of initiatives to particularly help the elderly and vulnerable customers who largely rely on in-branch services to manage their money." ~ John Baron MP

 

John said: "Although the branch closure is disappointing, we agreed a number of initiatives to particularly help the elderly and vulnerable customers who largely rely on in-branch services to manage their money. The bank understands that not everyone has access to or is comfortable with online services, and using public transport to access the nearest branch in Basildon is a challenge for some people.” 

“The initiatives we discussed include regular ‘pop-up’ services once a month in Billericay High Street which offer face-to-face advice and help from HSBC UK staff for the next six months, which will then be reviewed with me as to the feasibility of these continuing. In addition, HSBC UK will help to ensure sufficient investment in all local Post Offices so that basic cheque and cash handling is offered to bank customers.” 

“Further meetings are planned but I would like to thank Karen Collier for a very constructive meeting. We will be keeping in touch.”

 

"We will continue to support people with their more complex banking needs..." ~ Karen Collier, HSBC

 

Karen Collier said: “The way people bank is changing - something the pandemic has accelerated, and that is true both nationally and in Billericay. We will continue to support people with their more complex banking needs through our Basildon branch, but the way we can do this has also evolved, with additional tailored local support, community pop ups and continued use of the Post Office network. Rather than a one-size fits all branch approach, it’s an approach built around the way different customers are choosing to bank in different areas.” 

**2nd UPDATE** MP meets with HSBC

Local M.P. launches survey

John Baron, M.P. encourages residents to respond to consultation 

 

Residents will recall that I wrote a blog back in March when HSBC announced they were closing their Billericay High Street branch. That seems like a long time ago now. Lloyds closed last month, after reporting that more than 80% of its branch customers were now using Internet or phone banking, with less than 100 customers regularly using the local branch over the previous 12 months. This followed the closure of Barclays in August and NatWest also left recently as well. Halifax has been gone for a while. Santander is now the only remaining bank with a branch in Billericay.

They all seem to have fallen like dominoes but, of course, for several years now high street banks have been reporting similar diminished footfall in local branches. Things appear to have been brought to a head by the pandemic, during which many of us who had hitherto resisted Internet banking had little option but to embrace it. Personally, I have rarely set foot in a branch in years. I am not self-employed, rarely pay in cheques and I can do the vast majority of my day-to-day banking online. Concern remains, nonetheless, for the elderly and vulnerable, who still rely on in-branch services to manage their money. Let's face it, anyone who didn't embrace Internet banking during Covid-19, is never going to!

Our local M.P., John Baron, has had some success in negotiating with our departing banks. Following the closure of HSBC, John persuaded them to hold pop-up events at Billericay Library for the next 6 months following the closure. A similar scheme was agreed by Barclays, located at the Chantry Centre but there also remains the issue of the drastic fall in cash points available in the High Street.

To that end, John met recently with U.K. Finance, who are in charge of the 'Access to Cash' pilot scheme, which has been announced for Billericay in response to concerns about access to cash in the local area. The pilot is predominantly targeted at business banking needs but John is exploring whether there is scope to expand this and has set up a survey to gather evidence from residents.

Please follow the link below to complete the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BILLERICAYCOMMUNITY