Where Labour has seen the best improvement in vote share in Southend since 2012

As Southend Labour starts to look forward to next May's local election minds will start to look at where our likely successes are to be found.

This table compares Labour's results in Southend-on-Sea in 2012 and 2016.

	2012	2016	Gain
Prittlewell	17.1	27.0	9.9
Milton	35.8	45.3	9.5
Blenheim Park	16.5	24.6	8.1
Victoria	50.4	54.7	4.3
Kursaal	38.8	42.2	3.4
Westborough	31.0	33.9	2.9
Thorpe	4.3	6.2	1.9
Belfairs	10.3	10.5	0.2
Southchurch	12.6	12.1	-0.5
West Leigh	9.1	8.6	-0.5
St Laurence	19.3	17.2	-2.1
Chalkwell	19.1	16.3	-2.8
Shoeburyness	12.8	9.4	-3.4
West Shoebury	14.9	10.2	-4.7
St Luke's	25.8	20.9	-4.9
Eastwood Park	15.9	9.2	-6.7
Leigh	19.6	11.3	-8.3

Whilst admittedly a somewhat crude measure, it does show where our campaigning has been most effective. I am pleased to report that I played a significant role in the top three best performances.

Two of the top three would give us gains, one from the Tories.

What is not known is what happened in these wards in June, although some sampling at the count does provide some clues. However as good as June was for us, and the opinion polls since have made reasonable reading, we must also remember just how bad the May local elections were.

Who knows what will happen between now and May, but there is reason for optimism that the local Labour Group will grow, and that the Conservatives' grip on power in the council chamber will weaken.

Southend LCF AGM

The Southend Labour Parties Local Campaign Forum had its annual general meeting last night. It met in Westcliff-on-Sea, at Chalkwell Park Methodist Church. The attendance was a healthy 101.

It was a case of all change, The executive has twelve members, and eight either did not seek re-election or were defeated in a contest.

The following were elected:

Chair	Ashley Dalton
Vice chair	Martin Berry
Secretary	Helen McDonald
Treasurer	Julian Ware-Lane
Campaign coordinator	Daniel Cowan
Chair of selections	Jes Phillips
Recruitment	Janet Phillips
TULO	Alex Nicholas
Press	Martin Berry
Fundraising	Fionna Morgan
Leader of the Labour Group	Ian Gilbert
Deputy leader of the Labour Group	Anne Jones

My personal thanks to all outgoing officers, who have dedicated many hours in the furtherance of the Labour cause in Southend-on-Sea, and these are :-

Margaret Borton, Ashleigh Condon, Cheryl Nevin, Laura Pearce, Kevin Robinson, Gray Sergeant, Mike Smith, Neil Taylor.

I fully expect to see all outgoing officers still active in their communities, fighting for a better Southend-on-Sea. working for a fairer and more equal Southend-on-Sea.

Reg Copley

Reg Copley, Julian Ware-Lane, campaign planning

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Reg Copley. He has been a big figure in Southend Labour for many years; I believe Reg's activism began with the 1945 General election, and ended last year - an impressive 71 years.

I have known Reg for something like 20 years. We became friends and comrades, and he was always a source of encouragement for me, as well as sound advice. I hadn't seen him for a while, but he was always welcoming when I popped up to his home, and tea and chatter was routine.

I helped Reg with his campaigning in later years when his age and failing eyesight were beginning to catch up on him. He was writing copy for leaflets, and I am pleased that on many occasions I helped knock these into actual Labour leaflets for him. I delivered many hundreds of them for him too.

He was a councillor for more than 40 years, and served as mayor. I recall that he had the animal fur removed from the mayor's robes. He had strong views about what Labour in Southend should be doing, and always supported me in my campaigning. My selection photograph in 2014 has Reg sitting beside me.

Reg eschewed honours, although this did not mean he was not proud of his achievements. Reg had a hand in much of what is modern Southend and this will be his testament. He made Southend a better place.