Of the ten local authorities to be profiled in this series, in many ways Thurrock represents Labour’s very best – and most likely – opportunity for good news. With a minority Labour-led council already in control at the town hall, Labour only needs to gain one seat to achieve outright and overall control. With ten non-Labour seats being contested (along with seven Labour held seats), the party ought to feel confident that Friday's papers will report the Thurrock result as “Labour gain from NOC”.
The battleground in Thurrock will be the marginal wards of Ockendon and Stanford East and Corringham Town. Ockendon was the venue for Labour’s local election campaign launch, and scene of a Labour gain in the same elections in 2011, where Aaron Kiely took the ward from the Conservatives, albeit with a slim majority of just 97. Labour’s Ockendon candidate this time round is Tilbury-raised Martin Kerin, a teacher at a local academy who’s campaign has coincided with becoming a father. It doesn’t seem to have slowed him down with Your Thurrock noting that he has been “putting in the hard yards” on the campaign trail.
The highly regarded Richard Speight is carrying Labour’s banner in Stanford East. An integral part of the 2011 local election campaign Speight is hoping to go one better than his second place finish in The Homesteads last year. His place as the Labour name on the ballot paper in The Homesteads is taken by rising star Liam Preston, who works for the YMCA and is also involved in the British Youth Council. With 250 votes to overturn he faces a tougher task than Kerin and Speight, but don’t rule out his election a month from now.
As well as competing hard to win these seats to Labour, the party is defending a number of seats, the most notable of which is Stanford le Hope West. Here, Labour Councillor Terry Hipsey will be defending the seat he was elected to serve as a Conservative in 2008. Hipsey, a former Leader of Thurrock Council, crossed the council chamber in 2009 in a high profile defection. He is the subject of a concerted local Conservative campaign in this blue leaning marginal ward, and Labour is working hard to ensure his re-election.
The far right continue to contest elections in this part of Essex. Four years ago the BNP elected their first councillor in Thurrock in Tilbury Riverside. The victor of that contest has since departed: quitting the council in 2011, and Labour regained the seat in the subsequent by election. But the news locally is that this year’s elections will see National Front candidates fielded, ensuring a far right presence on the ballot paper.
Thurrock is home to one of the Conservative’s most marginal parliamentary constituencies. Thurrock returned a Conservative MP for only the second time since the second world war when Jackie Doyle-Price won the seat from Labour in 2010 by a mere 92 votes. Labour’s determination to win the constituency back was signalled when the seat was identified for early selection. Polly Billington was selected last year and the experienced former SPAD to party leader Ed Miliband will be keen to see Labour’s local momentum extended with another successful local campaign.
The battleground in Thurrock will be the marginal wards of Ockendon and Stanford East and Corringham Town. Ockendon was the venue for Labour’s local election campaign launch, and scene of a Labour gain in the same elections in 2011, where Aaron Kiely took the ward from the Conservatives, albeit with a slim majority of just 97. Labour’s Ockendon candidate this time round is Tilbury-raised Martin Kerin, a teacher at a local academy who’s campaign has coincided with becoming a father. It doesn’t seem to have slowed him down with Your Thurrock noting that he has been “putting in the hard yards” on the campaign trail.
The highly regarded Richard Speight is carrying Labour’s banner in Stanford East. An integral part of the 2011 local election campaign Speight is hoping to go one better than his second place finish in The Homesteads last year. His place as the Labour name on the ballot paper in The Homesteads is taken by rising star Liam Preston, who works for the YMCA and is also involved in the British Youth Council. With 250 votes to overturn he faces a tougher task than Kerin and Speight, but don’t rule out his election a month from now.
As well as competing hard to win these seats to Labour, the party is defending a number of seats, the most notable of which is Stanford le Hope West. Here, Labour Councillor Terry Hipsey will be defending the seat he was elected to serve as a Conservative in 2008. Hipsey, a former Leader of Thurrock Council, crossed the council chamber in 2009 in a high profile defection. He is the subject of a concerted local Conservative campaign in this blue leaning marginal ward, and Labour is working hard to ensure his re-election.
The far right continue to contest elections in this part of Essex. Four years ago the BNP elected their first councillor in Thurrock in Tilbury Riverside. The victor of that contest has since departed: quitting the council in 2011, and Labour regained the seat in the subsequent by election. But the news locally is that this year’s elections will see National Front candidates fielded, ensuring a far right presence on the ballot paper.
Thurrock is home to one of the Conservative’s most marginal parliamentary constituencies. Thurrock returned a Conservative MP for only the second time since the second world war when Jackie Doyle-Price won the seat from Labour in 2010 by a mere 92 votes. Labour’s determination to win the constituency back was signalled when the seat was identified for early selection. Polly Billington was selected last year and the experienced former SPAD to party leader Ed Miliband will be keen to see Labour’s local momentum extended with another successful local campaign.
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