Essex election results 2022: Tories hold councils but lose leader

The Conservatives were celebrating in Harlow after picking up two new seats

The Conservatives have retained control of six councils in their Essex stronghold after Thursday's local elections.

But the party lost control of Castle Point Borough Council, which it had led for almost 20 years.

Basildon, Brentwood, Harlow, Rochford, Epping Forest and Thurrock all saw Tory successes, although they also lost some seats.

Colchester and Southend councils have stayed under no overall control.

In Colchester, Conservative council leader Paul Dundas lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats.

In total, the Tories there lost one seat to the Greens and three to the Lib Dems.

Before the election, the Conservatives relied on an alliance with the Highwoods group to form a ruling administration.

Mr Dundas said the loss of his seat was "disappointing" but as it was a very marginal ward where he won in 2018 he was "not terribly surprised".

He added that local politics was "always affected by the national picture".

"I'm not sure it was necessarily about the state of Westminster politics... people are very concerned about the state of the economy so they want to send a message and some of them have," he said.

He added that the Downing Street lockdown party issue "didn't come up anywhere near as much on the doorstep as we thought it would".

Nine councils in Essex held elections, all with a third of their seats up for grabs.

Counting took place in Harlow, where the Conservatives gained control in 2021, and a third of seats were up for grabs again

In Harlow, the Conservatives were celebrating their vote holding up and even increasing in many seats, according to BBC Look East political correspondent Andrew Sinclair.

They said voters stuck with them because of the party's response to cost of living.

Conservative council leader Russell Perin told the BBC: "We fought a local election. I could count on one hand the number of people who brought up partygate."

Labour leader Chris Vince said his party was slowly rebuilding.

"This time a year ago I was the only one to win a seat. Tonight we won five seats - we're moving in the right direction," he said.

The make-up of the council remains unchanged with both Labour and the Tories picking up two seats from each other.

Analysis: Simon Dedman, BBC Essex political reporter

In the east of Essex, the Conservatives had a gutting night losing four seats in Colchester including that of the council leader - and with it their ability to run the garrison town with independent councillors.

The Lib Dems, Labour and the Greens all made gains and are in talks about "a progressive alliance".

In Southend the Tories also lost ground and whilst they remain in power in Rochford, their majority has been reduced.

Whereas in the west of the county, the Conservatives suffered few losses.

Labour failed to make inroads in Basildon and Harlow which they ran until last year when the Tories made big gains in last May's polls.

In Thurrock, Labour has one less councillor than it had yesterday.

In Basildon, the Tories' Sam Gascoyne narrowly took the Pitsea North West seat previously occupied by the leader of the district council's Labour group, Jack Ferguson, by 20 votes.

The Conservatives now have 25 of the 42 seats.

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Conservative group leader, Andrew Baggott, who held his seat in Burstead ward, said his party retained control despite the lockdown parties "dominating some of the conversations" while campaigning.

"[Prime Minister] Boris [Johnson] does seem to be very Marmite in people's minds - you either love him or you hate him," he said.

But Mr Baggott said many voters had also talked about local issues.

"There's the local plan which is something that's quite key in some people's minds," he said.

"Anti-social behaviour has come up a lot, the same way as keeping council tax low and the fact they don't see many police on the streets."

Brentwood Borough Council votes were counted at the Brentwood Centre

In Brentwood, the Conservatives won six of the eight seats they were defending, with the two they lost going to the Liberal Democrats, who won six in total.

The unitary authority of Thurrock saw the Conservatives defend six seats and win nine, with Labour losing three.

At the recently renamed Southend-on-Sea City Council, although the Conservatives remain the largest single party with 21 out of 51 seats, they lost two - one to Labour and one to the Lib Dems - and the unitary council continues with no single party with overall control.

Labour city council leader Ian Gilbert said it had been an "historic night" for the party.

During the count, police were called over to a counting table due to disagreement over the Thorpe ward result, which went to a recount after a dead heat.

Independent group leader Martin Terry retained the seat by one vote after it was ruled the ballot paper in dispute was a vote for him.

He said there had been a tick in his box, despite there also being a defamatory comment about another candidate on the paper.

Former leader of Southend Council, Conservative John Lamb, criticised the "absolutely diabolical" result.

"I think it's wrong when there's a ballot paper that is spoilt, that the candidates and the agents accepted it was spoilt and then it's reintroduced," he said.

Essex Police said officers were already present at the count in Southend as part of the force's countywide plans.

While the Tories retained control of Rochford District Council, they lost six of the 11 seats they were defending. The Liberal Democrats gained two seats and the Rochford District Residents group gained four.

In Epping Forest, the Conservatives lost one of the 11 seats they were defending with the Liberal Democrats gaining one seat.

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The Conservatives lost control of Castle Point Borough Council after losing six seats on the authority.

It had been in control of the council for almost 20 years.

The People's Independent Party gained six seats and Canvey Island Independent Party maintained its 16 seats. The results mean the council has been left under no overall control.