ON a remarkable night at Purfleet's Backstage Centre, the leadership of Thurrock Council dramatically changed hands as the borough's Conservative vote collapsed and the Tories lost ten seats.

Labour picked up eight of them and now have 27 seats - a majority of five.

Independent councillors picked up two Tory seats and also triumphed in Stanford East & Corringham Town, a seat previously won by the Conservatives, but whose councillor Jack Duffin declared himself an independent in the weeks before the elections after losing the Tory whip when he voted against the Conservative budget. There are now nine independent councillors, just four less than the Tories.

Five of those independent councillors work together as a group, rather than a political party, administratively under the acronym NPAIC (Non-Political Alliance of Independent Councillors. In the aftermath of the election a spokesperson for the group said invitations will be sent to the newly-elected independents to work together as a non-political alliance, but each councillor will retain independence and freedom to vote however they wish on any issues.

But the big winners were undoubtedly Labour and their leader Cllr John Kent was in bullish mode after the event,

You can hear his comments in this link:

Tory leader Cllr Andrew Jefferies watched his party disintegrate through the count, with retention of the stronghold Orsett seat, despite taking a much-reduced share of the vote, the only bright spot.

However, he said the results were not a reflection of the way people in the borough are feeling about local Tories, but he put the blame on national issues, saying: "Polls are looking bad for the Conservative Party, we are not hiding the fact. But we've been out on the doors, people are wanting to vote Conservative, they are angry with the Conservative Party nationally, locally they want to vote for us."

Declaration of the results started shortly after 1.30am with a comfortable victory for Labour's Cllr Kairen Raper, who held her Tilbury St Chads seat with a majority of 481.

Tilbury St Chads

• Kairen Raper (Lab) 641
• Daryl Palmer (Con) 160
• Majority - 481
• Turnout - 18.73%

Victorious Labour candidates Kairen Raper (left) and Victoria Holloway.

Then there was an inkling of what might follow as Labour made their first gain.

Former councillor Victoria Holloway returned to front line local politics with a massive swing in Belhus, knocking out sitting Tory councillor Georgette Polley by 589 votes.

Belhus

• Victoria Holloway (Lab) 1072
• Georgette Polley (Con) 483
• Turnout - 21.79%
• Majority - 589

Next came the first of several good results for independent candidates. Last year John Fox missed out on election in Corringham and Fobbing by just ten votes.

This year, in the seat vacated by Graham Snell, he challenged local Tory candidate and outspoken social media commentator Shane Ralph and emerged triumphant with a majority of 258. Mr Ralph came second, beating off the robust challenge of the resurgent Labour effort in the shape of James Mackinlay, son of former borough Labour MP Andrew Mackinlay by just 72 votes.

Mr Fox put his effort down to 'hard work' in the ward, saying he had received the message that it was time for change and people felt they could no longer trust the established parties in the wake of the financial catastrophe that has struck Thurrock Council and the cuts to services now being inflicted on residents. He called for constructive work to try and rebuild the trust and patch the council back together, putting people, not politics, first.

Corringham & Fobbing

• John Fox (Ind) 684
• Shane Ralph (Con) 426
• James Mackinlay (Lab) 354
• Turnout - 33.3%
• Majority - 258

The wretched showing for the Conservatives continued with declaration of the result on the The Homesteads.

In what was a previously 'safe seat', the Conservatives found themselves pushed into third place, with just 18 votes separated Labour winner Clifford Holloway and Independent Lisa Sergent. It was the closest outcome on the night, with the Tories' Allen Mayes out of contention.

Cliff Holloway is congratulated by returning officer and council CEO Dr Dave Smith.

The Homesteads

• Clifford Holloway (Lab) 731
• Lisa Sargent (Ind) 713
• Allen Mayes (Con) 590
• Turnout - 32.2%
• Majority - 18

The Labour landslide began to pick up pace with five more consecutive victorious declarations including three impressive gains.

The first was in the South Chafford ward where Gary Watson overturned a 75 vote deficit in 2021 when Augustine Ononaji won the seat. (Watch declaration).

The newly-elected Cllr Watson beat former borough mayor, Conservative Tunde Ojetola by 330 votes. with the Green Party's Caitlin Fallows in third with a very respectable 156 votes.

South Chafford

• Gary Watson (Lab) 763
• Tunde Ojetola (Con) 433
• Caitlin Fallows (Green Party) 156
• Turnout - 26.5%
• Majority - 330

Tunde Ojetola concedes defeat with a bow to Gary Watson and moments later Cathy Sisterson's impressive win was declared.

And pulses in Labour veins really began to race with the next declaration. Labour had targeted the Aveley & Uplands ward as key to their ambitions and Cathy Sisterson emerged the winner by the margin of 514 votes against the former Cllr Onanaji who had switched wards to try and bolster Tory chances.

Aveley and Uplands

• Cathy Sisterson (Lab) 1235
• Augustine Onanaji (Con) 721
• Turnout - 26%
• Majority - 514

Joy in the Watson household doubled when Gary's partner Lee Watson made it a family double by holding her seat in West Thurrock and South Stifford with a majority of 746 votes, blowing away Labour memories of recent defeats in that ward.

Labour supporters were delighted with Lee Watson's emphatic victory.

She polled one of the night's highest tallies with 1,272 votes (see declaration) - with the Greens also doing well with 211 votes.

West Thurrock and South Stifford

• Lee Watson (Lab) 1272
• Elisabeta Blaj (Con) 526
• Ri Goodyear (Green Party) 211
• Turnout - 22.2%
• Majority - 746

Another new Labour councillor was created with declaration of the result in Chafford and North Stifford, another loss for the Tories, who switched Cllr Adam Carter from Chadwell St Mary, but he was unable to prevent another defeat as Labour's Lynda Heath won by 250 votes.

Lynda Heath, right, is declared the winner.

In 2021 the Tories' James Thandi had won the seat with a 571 majority, and it may be that debutant independent candidate Bisi Sowunmi's effort in accumulating 300 votes to finish third may have played a part in Labour's success. (See the declaration here).

Chafford & North Stifford

• Lynda Heath (Lab) 853
• Adam Carter (Con) 603
• Bisi Sowunmi (Ind) 300
• Turnout - 31.2%
• Majority - 250

And the nap hand of successive Labour wins was the retention of his Grays Riverside seat by Cllr Tony Fish in very comfortable fashion.

Dr Dave Smith congratulates Cllr Tony Fish.

The Greens also got their best number of the night through candidate Daniel Fallows.

Grays Riverside

• Tony Fish (Lab) 1116
• Bunmi Ojetola (Con) 359
• Daniel Fallows (Green Party) 286
• Turnout - 21.8%
• Majority - 757

Many eyes had been focused on the battle for the Orsett ward where the previous long term supremacy of the Conservatives was put to the test by a challenge from former Tory Jack Duffin, who stood as an independent in the ward with the backing of current Conservative Mayor Sue Little and her former councillor husband Brian.

Both senior and well-respected Tories' decision to do so put the spotlight on selected Tory candidate and former pop star and TV celebrity David Day. With Labour throwing a former mayor, Carl Morris, into the mix it was a difficult three way fight to predict.

David Day emerged winner of an intriguing battle in Orsett. Watch the main video as the result is declared.

In the end the Tories held on for their only success of the night but it appears there was a huge local Tory protest vote as their usual vote tally of more than 1,000 in the ward was cut to less than 700 and in the end Mr Day returned to the council with an 87 vote majority. Watch the declaration in our main video.

Orsett

• David Day (Con) 657
• Jack Duffin (Ind) 570
• Carl Morris (Lab) 424
• Turnout - 32.9%
• Majority - 87

The night's biggest winner, with a majority of 1,020 votes, was Labour leader Cllr John Kent who amassed 1,428 as he retained his Grays Thurrock seat and he continues his unbroken period of service on the council stretching back more than three decades.

Cllr John Kent and losing candidate Joglur Rahman.

Grays Thurrock

• John Kent (Lab) 1428
• Joglur Rahman (Con) 408
• Turnout - 28%
• Majority - 1020

Independent councillor Sue Sammons, who switched from the Conservative ranks last year in protest at the Tories' decision to cut local bus services, kept the faith of residents in East Tilbury as she held the ward with a majority of 281 votes.

Alastair Craft challenged Sue Sammons in East Tilbury.

However, with a strong showing from Labour candidate Alastair Craft of 444 votes, the Reds may sense an opportunity to grow support in the rural ward next year when all the 49 council seats will be contested.

East Tilbury

• Sue Sammons (Ind) 725
• Alastair Craft (Lab) 444
• Shamim Miah (Con) 96
• Turnout - 24%
• Majority - 281

A momentous point in the evening came with the 2.30am declaration of the Chadwell St Mary ward, where the election of Labour newcomer Ngozi Alike was the landmark moment when her party's overall majority on the council was confirmed. And the newly-elected Cllr Alike did it with a sizeable majority of 695 votes to return the three councillor ward to an all Labour stronghold after the three year incursion of Cllr Carter.

Ngozi Alike's win in Chadwell St Mary was the moment Labour knew they were home and hosed!

Chadwell St Mary

• Ngozi Alike (Lab) 1134
• Charlie Taylor-Webb (Con) 439
• Turnout - 22%
• Majority - 695

There was the end of an era in Little Thurrock Blackshots when, after a recount, the tenure of former Mayor and Conservative Cllr Joy Redsell ended with former councillor Michael Fletcher returning to the chamber's Labour benches with a majority of 106 votes.

Little Thurrock Blackshots

• Michael Fletcher (Lab) 720
• Joy Redsell (Con) 614
• Magun Singh (Green Party) 157
• Turnout - 29.4%
• Majority -106

The early morning drama continued as the independents enjoyed two wins, taking seats from the Conservatives.

Roy Jones, who has been a member of UKIP and the Independent Group on the council in the past - as well as standing as a Tory candidate - made his way back to the chamber with a close win in the Stanford East & Corringham ward vacated by former Cllr Duffin. He beat Labour's Ajay Kapoor by just 41 votes, with young Tory George Wright lagging well behind.

New councillors John Fox and Roy Jones.

Newly elected Cllr Jones attributed his success to hard work and local commitment, citing citing the same assets as his friend and colleague on the Homesteads, Corringham and Fobbing Forum John Fox who was elected earlier in the evening.

Stanford East & Corringham Town

• Roy Jones (Ind) 809
• Ajay Kapoor (Lab) 768
• George Wright (Con) 383
• Turnout - 31%
• Majority - 41

Sandwiched between Roy Jones' success and the last result of the evening, emotions ran high as Labour claimed another of their key target seats.

The battle for Ockendon was a hard-fought one, with Tory Luke Spillman determined to hold on to what was seen as a landmark Conservative incursion into Labour's heartland when he won it.

But the efforts of the Labour election machine again proved a decisive factor as another newcomer, Ryan Polston completed the Reds' procession to power. In terms of votes cast, it was the biggest two horse race of the election, with both polling more than 1,000 votes but Labour emerged victorious to rapturous cheers from supporters, while Mr Spillman looked shocked and hurt by the loss.

Ockendon

• Ryan Polston (Lab) 1271
• Luke Spillman (Con) 1123
• Turnout - 29%
• Majority - 148

The final drama was the second of the two late wins for independent candidates. Ross Byrne made it a night when he joined his dad Gary on the council (one of three family pairings completed with the elections of Lee and Gary Watson and daughter and dad Victoria and Clifford Hollowell)

There was a three way fight in the ward and there was a repeat of last year's outcome in the ward with an independent beating Labour's Phil Smith into second and the sitting Tory, this time Cllr Terry Piccolo, bowing out.

Stanford-le-Hope West

• Ross Byrne (Ind) 656
• Philip Smith (Lab) 544
• Terry Piccolo (Con) 306
• Turnout - 27%
• Majority - 112