FOLLOWING enquiries from Thurrock Nub News, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England has confirmed that it has no immediate plans to make changes to wards in Thurrock.

Any review might not come into effect until late 2026, or more likely 2027.

Nub News questioned the commission in the wake of a counter motion put forward by Thurrock Conservative group leader Cllr Andrew Jefferies at last month;'s full council meeting, which blocked a proposal from the borough Labour group for 'all out elections' in May next year.

Labour's leader, Cllr John Kent, had proposed: "Council welcomes the release of the Best Value Inspection report, endorses its recommendations, and resolves to move to all out elections from May 2024."

However, by a vote of 24-23 Cllr Jefferies won an amendment to the motion. Proposing it, which read: "Council welcomes the release of the Best Value Inspection report, endorses its recommendations, and resolves to request the independent boundary review be sped up to allow for an all-out election as soon as possible", Cllr Jefferies said all out elections were needed but he did not want to see the public purse having to carry out and pay for 'election after election'.

The commission told Nub News: "Thurrock is scheduled to be reviewed, with the consultation beginning in August 2025. Reviews typically take 12-18 months, depending on the particular circumstances of the area."

It then confirmed that it had received no request from Thurrock Council to speed up the process, despite Cllr Jefferies assertion to the contrary.

We were told: "We have not received a formal request from the Council to conduct an electoral review.

"However, if we do, our commissioners will consider the request on its merits. They will make a decision whether to proceed with a review more quickly, in time for an all-out election. We will also discuss how we do our work with councillors before we start a review.

"Our electoral reviews involve consultation with all local stakeholders. So, if we do start a review of Thurrock, we will publicise it in the area and will encourage local people and organisations to give us their views on ward boundaries."

The council's CEO, Dr Dave Smith, has written to the Conservative minister for Local Government, outlining the options available and he says the council 'resolves to request the independent boundary review be sped up to allow for an all-out election as soon as possible' but he falls short of actually asking for that - despite a clear mandate for him to do so following Cllr Jefferies' motion amendment success.

Cllr Kent has expressed his scepticism about the ruling group's real intent and believes they are not pressing for the boundary commission to act quickly because they fear defeat at any interim election.

He said: "We should give every voter the opportunity to have their say on the catastrophic Conservative mismanagement of Thurrock Council's finances and elect a whole new council as soon as possible – to me that means next May.

"The Tories want to stall and push the all out elections into the long grass. You can only draw the conclusion they are running scared of the electorate.

"Thurrock Tories are attempting to dodge democracy by delaying all out elections and even suggesting next year's elections be cancelled.

"This is absolutely outrageous."