Southend residents might not get a say on new city logo

Southend became a city on 1 March in honour of the former MP Sir David Amess who was killed in 2021

Residents of England's newest city are unlikely to have a say on their new city logo after Conservative councillors blocked a consultation.

Southend-on-Sea officially became a city on 1 March in honour of MP Sir David Amess who was killed in 2021.

Southend City Council was set to invite people to give their views on four designs during a two-week consultation.

Conservatives objected to the speed of the consultation and questioned whether there should be a consultation at all.

Ian Gilbert, the Labour council leader, said if he was still in charge following the May elections a consultation would go ahead.

But during a policy and resources scrutiny meeting on Wednesday, Conservative James Moyies said a consultation was "not the way to develop a brand".

He suggested using focus groups instead, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

The four logo options for Southend Council

Tony Cox, leader of the Conservative group added: "It feels a bit rushed. It would have been better for us to pause and give it a bit more thought."

Councillors voted seven to eight in favour of referring the matter back to cabinet.

Asked to ensure a consultation will go ahead in future, Mr Gilbert said: "It now almost certainly won't be dealt with until after the election which I do think is a great shame.

"Assuming the election goes our way and I'm still leader, whatever we do, there will certainly be a consultation."

Mr Gilbert said after the meeting he was "deeply disappointed" by the outcome of the vote.

"City status is a one-off, historic opportunity to rebrand Southend and set out what we want our city to be.

"I am firmly of the view that residents should be front and centre of that," he said.