Votes cast in the Southend-on-Sea City Council elections on Thursday 7 May 2026 have now been counted and all results declared, with the process completing in the early hours of Friday morning.
A total of 17 seats were contested across 17 wards, with 117 candidates standing.
Election results
The results for seats contested are:
- Labour: 4 holds
- Conservative: 1 gain, 1 hold
- Liberal Democrat: 1 hold
- Independents and others: 0
- Green: 2 gains
- Reform UK: 8 gains
Overall political composition
This gives the following overall composition of Southend-on-Sea City Council:
- Labour: 17
- Conservative: 11
- Reform UK: 11
- Independents and others: 5
- Green: 4
- Liberal Democrat: 3
Labour remains the largest party on the council with 17 seats. No single party has overall control.
Voter turnout was 43.12%.
Colin Ansell, Returning Officer and Chief Executive of Southend-on-Sea City Council, said: "Thank you to everyone who took part in this year's local elections, and to the teams who worked overnight to deliver the count.
"Elections of this scale require significant planning and coordination, and I would like to thank all council staff and partners who helped ensure the process ran smoothly across polling stations and at the count. Participation in local elections remains an important part of the democratic process in Southend-on-Sea."
Full results, including ward-by-ward breakdowns, are available on our election results page.
The council will meet on Thursday 14 May 2026 for the first part of its Annual Meeting. This will include the introduction of new and returning councillors and the election of the Mayor for the 2026/27 municipal year.