East Southend Tory hopefuls

In the eight wards that make up east Southend (the eight wards that are part of the Rochford and Southend East constituency) there is no Conservative defending in May 2018; none of these wards, when contested in 2014, was won by the Tories.

2014, as some may remember, was the year UKIP won five seats across the borough, and therefore won more seats than any other party. All of their councillors have since either resigned or defected.

The Labour v Conservative contest in 2018 looks like the following :-

ward	Conservative candidate	Labour candidate
Kursaal	Dave Clift	Matt Dent
Milton	Garry Lowen	Cllr Cheryl Nevin
Shoeburyness	Val Jarvis
Southchurch	Dan Nelson	Martin Berry
St Luke’s	Harry Mason	Ian Pope
Thorpe	Cllr James Moyies
Victoria	John Harland	Cllr Margaret Borton
West Shoebury	Denis Garne

Labour has still a few outstanding selections, and will have a full slate within the month. The Tory slate is a mix of experience and newcomers. There is one ex-Labour councillor amongst the Tories; Denis Garne once represented Labour in Kursaal ward and if successful will join Cllr Judith McMahon as a once Labour turned Tory councillor.

ward	Winner in 2014	Party now
Kursaal	UKIP	Independent
Milton	Labour	Labour
Shoeburyness	Independent	Independent
Southchurch	Independent	Independent
St Luke’s	Independent	Independent
Thorpe	Independent	Independent
Victoria	Labour	Labour
West Shoebury	UKIP	Conservative

The movement of some candidates across various parties will damage their chances of being successful in May, and I predict that Cllrs Davies and Moyies will exit the chamber.          

In 2014 the vote share for all 17 wards in Southend-on-Sea totalled as follows :-

30.2% Conservative

19.1% UKIP

19.0% Labour

17.5% Independent

13.0% Liberal Democrat
1.2% Green

0.0% National Front

I expect these numbers to be significantly different come May.

Votes at 16

I meet all sorts of people in my role as councillor and political activist. These include those who have no interest in voting, those that always vote one way or another because this is all they have known, and those that cannot be bothered. Are these people any more entitled to a say in how our country is run than sixteen and seventeen-year olds?

What of those with Alzheimer’s, dementia, or who have learning difficulties? These people have the vote. What about those who confess to not understanding politics? There is no question of challenging these persons right to vote.

I am not looking to see the vote taken away from anyone, I want to see suffrage extended to those of sixteen years of age.

There are some who are resistant to Votes At Sixteen, some who make the argument that sixteen year olds lack maturity and understanding. Perhaps some do, but then this equally applies to those currently eligible.

At sixteen one can do a number of things considered adult, such as work and marry. Adding the ability to vote only seems only fair against this backdrop.

The Scottish independence referendum three years back saw sixteen year olds have a say, and this was a success. Not all sixteen year olds will want to vote, but those that do should be allowed. There is an ongoing debate on this issue and I hope that we shall see the suffrage extended. I also hope for other changes to improve our democracy, and perhaps these can wait for another day.

Votes at 16 should not have to wait. Our democracy can and must be improved.