Southend-on-Sea City Council is the

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

of the city of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

, in the

ceremonial county Ceremonial counties, formally known as ''counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'', are areas of England to which lord-lieutenant, lord-lieutenants are appointed. A lord-lieutenant is the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch's repres ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. Southend has had an elected local authority since 1866, which has been reformed several times. Since 1998 the council has been a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

, being a district council which also performs the functions of a

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

; it is independent from

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock which ...

The council has been under

no overall control In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for elec ...

since 2019. Since 2024 it has been led by a coalition of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and some of the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

councillors. It is based at Southend Civic Centre. Since 2024, the government has planned to abolish the council and merge it with other parts of Essex as part of its planned reorganisation of local government in Essex in 2025.

History

Southend's first elected council was a

local board A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

, which held its first meeting on 29 August 1866. Prior to that the town was administered by the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

for the wider parish of

Prittlewell Prittlewell is an inner city area and former civil parish in Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the ''south end'' of Prittlewell. The vil ...

. The local board district was enlarged in 1877 to cover the whole parish of Prittlewell. In 1892 the town was made a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

, governed by a body formally called the 'mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Southend-on-Sea', generally known as the corporation, town council or borough council. The borough boundaries were enlarged on several occasions, notably absorbing

Southchurch Southchurch is a suburb and former civil parish in the city of Southend-on-Sea in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. England. In 2011 the ward had a population of 9,710. History In 824 AD, a Saxon thegn, Leofstan presented the manor o ...

in 1897,

Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish within the city of Southend-on-Sea, located in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509. Geograph ...

in 1913, and

Shoeburyness Shoeburyness ( ), or simply Shoebury, is a coastal town in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England; it lies east of the city centre. It was formerly a separate town until it was absorbed into Southend in 1933. I ...

and

North Shoebury North Shoebury (once known as Shoebury Parva and Little Shoebury) is a former civil parish and village in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is now part of Shoeburyness, a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea. History The name "Shoe ...

in 1933. By 1914 the borough was considered large enough to provide its own county-level functions, and so it was made a county borough, independent from

. The powers of the council were substantially reformed in 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. Southend's boundaries remained the same, but it was redesignated as a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''s ...

, with Essex County Council once more providing county-level services. Southend retained its

borough status Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, si ...

, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Southend's series of mayors dating back to 1892. Southend regained its independence from Essex County Council on 1 April 1998 when it was made a

. The way this change was implemented was to create a new

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a subdivision of England used for local government. The non-metropolitan counties were originally created in 1974 as part of a reform of local government in England and Wales, and ...

called Southend-on-Sea covering the same area as the district, but with no separate county council. Instead, the existing borough council assumed the functions that legislation assigns to county councils, making it a unitary authority. This therefore had the effect of restoring the borough council to the powers it had held when Southend was a county borough prior to 1974. Southend-on-Sea remains part of the

of Essex for the purposes of lieutenancy. On 26 January 2022 letters patent were issued granting

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

to the borough, allowing the council to change its name to Southend-on-Sea City Council.

Governance

Southend-on-Sea City Council provides both district-level and county-level functions. There is one

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

within the city at Leigh-on-Sea, which forms an additional tier of local government for that area; the rest of the city is unparished.

Political control

The council has been under

since 2019. Following the 2024 election a coalition of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and some of the independent councillors was formed to run the council, led by Labour councillor Daniel Cowan. Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: (Put "Southend-on-Sea" in search box to see specific results.) Lower-tier non-metropolitan district Unitary authority

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Southend-on-Sea, usually being held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

. The leaders since 2003 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election, a subsequent by-election in July 2024, and two independent councillors joining Reform UK in August 2024, the composition of the council was: Five of the independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group", which forms the council's administration with Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The remaining 3 independent councillors sit as 'non-aligned' councillors (i.e. individually). The next election is due in 2026.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2001, the council has comprised 51

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s representing 17 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time for a four-year term of office. The next election in 2026 will be held under new boundaries.

Premises

The council is based at Southend Civic Centre on Victoria Avenue. The building was designed by borough architect, Patrick Burridge, and officially opened by

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

on 31 October 1967.

Performance

In 2007, Southend Borough Council was criticised as one of the worst financially managed local authorities in England by the Audit Commission report for 2006/7, one of three to gain only one of four stars, the others being

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

. In March 2012, Southend Borough Council was awarded the title of 'Council of the Year 2012' by the

Local Government Chronicle The ''Local Government Chronicle'' (''LGC'') is a British weekly magazine for local government officers, and is published by Metropolis. The magazine was launched in 1855 by bookseller and publisher Charles Knight. It was then published by Em ...

Arms

References

External links

* {{Authority control Unitary authority councils of England Local authorities in Essex Southend-on-Sea (district) Local education authorities in England Billing authorities in England Leader and cabinet executives