Political Viewpoint

Leigh On Sea News: Political Viewpoint – BY Coun Paul Collins, Southend City Councillor, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group.
Liberal Democrats defend our democracy!
Southend City Council was formally approached by the Labour Government in January 2026 to seek from them, a unilateral cancellation of our Southend on Sea City Council May 2026 elections.
Your Southend Liberal Democrats, which I proudly lead, responded to the motion placed with Southend Council on January 12th, 2026, to make it clear that there is NO justification for ever considering cancelling scheduled elections.
It would be the act of an authoritarian regime, not a mature democracy.
We note that our neighbours in Essex County Council, had their all up elections axed once, in May 2025, with no real genuine reasoning. This means Essex County Councillors elected in May 2021 have had no mandate from their electors since May 2025 and they would serve an unprecedented seven-year term until 2028, if the May 2026 elections were again avoided for political convenience.
To be clear, elections are only cancelled in times of war, or pandemic. We do not have either. Like most councils, Southend-on-Sea Council has a history of delivering well-run, efficient, and compliant elections, even where there are complexities with delivering numerous elections at once. These will not be impacted by local government reorganisation. Capacity in electoral staff has no relationship to that of other teams. Indeed, if this were an issue it would suggest elections were ever more needed to secure proper and effective council leadership.
We, the Liberal Democrat Group on Southend-on-Sea City Council, supports the commentary of the Government’s own Electoral Commission, “As a matter of principle, we do not think that capacity constraints are a legitimate reason for delaying long planned elections. Extending existing mandates risks affecting the legitimacy of local decision making and damaging public confidence.
“There is a clear conflict of interest in asking existing Councils to decide how long it will be before they are answerable to voters.
“Voters must have a say on those that represent them at local government.”
Denying people the ability to vote is removing the right to hold councils and councillors to account and cancels democracy.
We are clear, the May 2026 elections must go ahead. So, we are pleased that our two current elected Members across Leigh, Coun Carole Mulroney in Leigh Ward and Coun Rob McMullan in Eastwood Ward are standing for re-election in May 2026 and will now have an opportunity to ask their residents for support from that date.
So, this May the electorate will be faced with a plethora of candidates in Southend this year, which we welcome as a mature and growing democracy.
Some new parties and some established parties along with individuals that wish to make a mark for their communities will be making their way to your doorstep, phone, email, and other social media access, to implore you for your support.
We Liberal Democrats have always been a community based party, with over 3,200 current Liberal Democrat Councillors working hard for their communities across the Country. No one in our local party take your vote and opinion for granted , and we will always engage and do our level best to be honest with you.
Sometimes the answer may not please you, as a very wise man in the US once said, “You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
We are proud of our team and will always focus on what residents are needing from the Council and also our long earned experience does allow us to act as a community ‘sign post’ to enable our residents to find out information and support that is not necessarily provided by Southend on Sea City Council.
When we now start the ‘election period’ up to May 2026, all I would ask readers of my and others words in this space for political opinions, is that consider what the person in front of you on the ballot paper and what they are offering you.
Does it meet your expectations and are they honest with what they promise they would do for you?
A City Councillor in Southend, has powers stretching from Adult & Children care, through support for the community, to environment, to the place where they represent – but no further.
So who is best for this very important role, your choice and the Liberal Democrats are very pleased to have stood up to allow you to exercise that choice in May in Southend.
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