Thurrock Council

Thurrock Council
Thurrock Council
Third of council elected three years out of four
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Mayor of Thurrock	Cllr Sue Shinnock ; since 26th May 2021
Leader of the Council	Cllr Rob Gledhill, ; Conservative ; since 25th May 2016
Chief executive	Lyn Carpenter ; since September 2015
Structure
Seats	49 councillors
Political groups	Administration Conservative (29) Other parties Labour (16) Independents (4)
Length of term	4 years
Motto
	Secundum Tamesim Quovis Gentium
Meeting place
	Civic Offices, New Road, Grays
Website
	www.thurrock.gov.uk
Constitution
	Constitution

Thurrock Council is the local council for the borough of Thurrock in Essex, England. Since 1997, Thurrock has been a unitary authority, combining the functions of a non-metropolitan county with that of a non-metropolitan district. The other such authority in Essex is Southend-on-Sea. It is a member of the East of England Local Government Association.

History[]

Thurrock District Council was first elected in 1973, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the Thurrock District on 1 April 1974. It replaced Thurrock Urban District Council, which governed a slightly larger area including part of Basildon New Town and had been formed in 1936 as an amalgamation of Grays Thurrock Urban District Council, Purfleet Urban District Council, Tilbury Urban District Council, and Orsett Rural District Council including associated parish councils; a result of the Local Government Act 1929. The council received borough status, permitting the council to be known as Thurrock Borough Council. Until 1998 it was constituted as non-metropolitan district council in a two-tier arrangement, sharing service provision with Essex County Council.

As a result of the 1992 Local Government Commission for England on 1 April 1998 Thurrock absorbed the powers of Essex County Council for its area, becoming a unitary authority. The planning function for large developments was exercised by the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation in the whole of the borough from 2003 to 2012. The development corporation was absorbed by the council on 1 April 2012.

Election results and council control[]

Prior to the 2015 local election, the council was run by a Labour minority administration, after the Labour Party lost its small majority at the 2014 election. Thurrock had previously been a hung council for several years after the Conservatives lost control in 2007.^[1]

Since 1997 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:^[2]

Year		Notes
1997	Labour
2004	Conservative
2007	No overall control	Conservative-led administration
2010	No overall control	Labour-led administration
2012	Labour
2014	No overall control	Labour largest group
2016	No overall control	Conservative-led administration
2018	No overall control	Conservative-led administration
2019	Conservative
2021	Conservative

All 17 UKIP councillors left the party in January 2018 to form Thurrock Independents.^[3]

Composition[]

Thurrock is divided into 20 wards and elects 49 councillors. One-third of the council is elected every year on a four-year term and so elections are held in three-year blocks (e.g. in 2014, 2015, and 2016; one will not be held in 2017; then in 2018, 2019, etc.) Councillors are elected through first-past-the-post voting. There are 19^[4] committees, including:

Cabinet
Corporate parenting
General services
Health and wellbeing board
Licensing
Planning
Standards and audit
Corporate Scrutiny
Cleaner, Greener and Safer Scrutiny
Children's Services Scrutiny
Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny
Housing Scrutiny

Electoral wards[]

The borough's 20 electoral wards and corresponding representatives are:^[5]^[6]

Electoral ward		Year of election

No.	Name	2016		2018		2019
1	Aveley and Uplands		Luke Spillman (TI)^[a]		Tim Aker (TI)^[a]		Colin Churchman (Con)
2	Ockendon		David Potter (TI)^[a]		Sue Shinnick (Lab)		Andrew Jefferies (Con)
3	Belhus		Angela Lawrence (Con)^[b]		Mike Fletcher (Lab)		Chris Baker (TI)^[a]
4	West Thurrock and South Stifford		Oliver Gerrish (Lab)		Qaisar Abbas (Lab)		Victoria Holloway (Lab)
5	South Chafford		Suzanne MacPherson (Con)		Abbie Akinbohun (Lab)	N/A
6	Chafford and North Stifford		Garry Hague (Con)	N/A			Mark Coxshall (Con)
7	Grays Riverside		Tony Fish (Lab)		Martin Kerin (Lab)		Jane Pothecary (Lab)
8	Grays Thurrock		John Kent (Lab)		Lynn Worrall (Lab)		Cathy Kent (Lab)
9	Stifford Clays	N/A			Elizabeth Rigby (Con)		Jennifer Smith (TI)^[a]
10	Little Thurrock Blackshots		Jocelyn Redsell (Con)		Ben Maney (Con)	N/A
11	Little Thurrock Rectory	N/A			Rob Gledhill (Con)		Tom Kelly (Con)
12	Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park	N/A			Bukky Okunade (Lab)		Allen Mayes (TI)^[a]
13	Tilbury St. Chads		John Allen (TI)^[a]		Steve Liddiard (Lab)	N/A
14	Chadwell St. Mary		Gerard Rice (Lab)		Barbara Rice (Lab)		Daniel Chukwu (Lab)
15	East Tilbury		Sue Sammons (Con)^[b]	N/A			Fraser Massey (Ind)
16	Stanford-Le-Hope West		Terry Piccolo (Con)	N/A			Shane Hebb (Con)
17	Corringham and Fobbing		Aaron Watkins (Con)	N/A			Deborah Huelin (Con)
18	Stanford East and Corringham Town		Jack Duffin (TI)^[a]		Alex Anderson (Con)		Shane Ralph (TI)^[a]
19	The Homesteads		Gary Collins (Con)		James Halden (Con)		Gary Byrne (TI)^[a]
20	Orsett		Susan Little (Con)		Barry Johnson (Con)	N/A

Mayor[]

The Mayor is elected at the annual meeting which is held following council elections or in May in years when there are no council elections. The most recent mayors have been:

2004/05 — Ian Harrison
2005/06 — Colin Churchman
2006/07 — Joy Redsell
2007/08 — Diane Revell
2008/09 — John Everett
2009/10 — Maureen Pearce
2010/11 —
2011/12 — Charles Curtis
2012/13 — Yash Gupta
2013/14 — Tony Fish
2014/15 — Steve Liddiard
2015/16 — Sue Gray
2016/17 — Cathy Kent
2017/18 — Tunde Ojetola^[7]
2018/19 — Barbara Rice
2019/20 — Terry Piccolo
2021/22 - Sue Shinnock

Arms[]

Coat of arms of Thurrock Council hide
	Notes Shield and crest originally granted to Thurrock Urban District Council on 17th January 1957. Supporters granted on 14th May 1976. Crest On a wreath of the colours an Albatross rising Proper from a bollard Sable roped Or. Escutcheon Argent on a fess wavy between in chief a ship's screw and a wheel Azure and in base a Celtic cross also Azure charged in the centre with a Tudor rose Proper three lymphads Argent. Supporters On the dexter a sea-lion guardant Or gutty Sable the tail Vert gutty Or and Argent holding in the dexter claw a block Or tackle Sable and on the sinister a knight in armour tempus 1370 resting the exterior hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword a hound at his feet all Proper upon a compartment per pale water barry wavy Argent and Azure and a representation of a stone quay Proper. Motto Secundum Tamesim Quovis Gentium (By The Thames To All The Peoples Of The World).^[8]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j The Thurrock Independents group was formed by councillors who were originally elected as UKIP, but later left the party. Tim Aker was re-elected as a Thurrock Independent in the 2018 local elections.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Angela Lawrence and Sue Sammons were originally elected as UKIP, but left the party to form the Thurrock Independents alongside the rest of their group members. They later joined the Conservative Party.

^ "Thurrock Council - BBC News" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
^ "Thurrock". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
^ "Thurrock's 17 UKIP councillors all resign from party". BBC News Online. 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
^ "Committees, meetings and minutes - Thurrock Council". www.thurrock.gov.uk.
^ "Wards and polling stations". www.thurrock.gov.uk. Thurrock Council. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
^ https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/sites/default/files/assets/documents/schedule-of-local-elections-v06.pdf
^ "Mayor of Thurrock 2017-18". www.facebook.com.
^ "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 9 March 2021.

[UKIP-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j The Thurrock Independents group was formed by councillors who were originally elected as UKIP, but later left the party. Tim Aker was re-elected as a Thurrock Independent in the 2018 local elections.

[defectors-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b Angela Lawrence and Sue Sammons were originally elected as UKIP, but left the party to form the Thurrock Independents alongside the rest of their group members. They later joined the Conservative Party.

[1] "Thurrock Council - BBC News" – via www.bbc.co.uk.

[change-2] "Thurrock". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2009.

[3] "Thurrock's 17 UKIP councillors all resign from party". BBC News Online. 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.

[4] "Committees, meetings and minutes - Thurrock Council". www.thurrock.gov.uk.

[5] "Wards and polling stations". www.thurrock.gov.uk. Thurrock Council. Retrieved 17 May 2017.

[6] ttps://www.thurrock.gov.uk/sites/default/files/assets/documents/schedule-of-local-elections-v06.pdf

[9] "Mayor of Thurrock 2017-18". www.facebook.com.

[10] "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 9 March 2021.

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show v t Thurrock
Traditional parishes in Thurrock	Aveley Bulphan Chadwell St Mary Corringham East Tilbury Fobbing Grays Horndon-on-the-Hill Langdon Hills Little Thurrock Mucking Orsett South Ockendon Stanford-le-Hope Stifford West Thurrock West Tilbury
Other places in Thurrock	Baker Street Belhus Biggin Bill Meroy Creek Chafford Gorges Nature Park Chafford Hundred Globe Pit Hangman's Wood High House, Purfleet Linford Wood Lower Horse Mardyke (river) Orsett Heath Purfleet Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve Shell Haven Terrel's Heath Thurrock Thameside Nature Park Tilbury Town
Historic buildings in Thurrock	Baker Street Mill, Orsett Bata Factory Belmont Castle Coalhouse Fort The Dell High House, Purfleet Orsett Hall South Ockendon Windmill State Cinema Tilbury Fort

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show v t Local authorities in Essex
County council and unitary	Essex Southend-on-Sea Thurrock
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