The town of Rochford, along with its neighbours Rayleigh and Hockley, can trace its history back to the Domesday Book of 1086. More recently, it has hosted a wide range of companies and many celebrities: a factory for Matchbox toys, actress Amanda Tapping and TV mathematician Rachel Riley, amongst others.
Rochford District Council too has something of a historic feel. It has been run by the Conservatives for over twenty years, although since earlier this year it has been in no overall control.
The Council
Rochford District Council covers roughly 65 square miles and as of 2021, has a population of 85,000. The council is formed of 39 councillors, 3 from each of the 13 wards.
In some wards it is a straight fight between the Conservatives, who are contesting every available seat, and a candidate from one of the larger, national parties. Elsewhere there is more choice ranging from an independent to a party of local residents.
Who is standing in Rochford?
- Conservative party, 13 candidates
- Labour party, 12 candidates
- Liberal Democrats 8 candidates
- Green party, 5 candidates
- Rochford District Residents, 4 candidates
- Reform party, 2 candidates
- Britain First, 1 candidate
- Alliance for Democracy and Freedom, 1 candidate
- Independents, 2 candidates
Are times changing?
Rochford Council has had its critics in recent years. One such area of contention was the change of direction for the ‘Mill Hall’ in Rayleigh. Rochford Council paid over £600,000 to exit an agreement with a developer to demolish the Arts and Events Centre to make way for flats. The Council then faced backlash from community groups who wanted to take it over. A process to obtain expressions of interest was described by a council spokesperson as being ‘incredibly disorganised’.
Another controversy concerned an ancient tree that was felled by developers. It came after a high court injunction to remove protesters who had been camping in the tree for weeks. The felling was to make way for a new development in Ashingdon, a large village adjacent to Rochford. Public dissatisfaction with the current administration is visible.
Old favourites
The Conservatives have a long association with Rochford Council. They controlled it from 1976 to 1990 and then again from 2002 to 2023. The only other party to have gained overall control was the Liberal Democrats for four years in the 1990s. At all other times, the Council was in no overall control.
Labour is campaigning for twelve of the seats, the Green Party is contesting five and Rochford and District Residents, a party established in 2003, is contesting four.
Newer players
The right wing Reform Party, whose co-founder and president is Nigel Farage, shares many hard line Brexit views with one of the two local Conservative MPs, European Research Group (ERG) Chair, Mark Francois. Reform has fielded two candidates in the Rayleigh area.
The Alliance for Democracy and Freedom has one candidate, campaigning in Hawkwell East.
Lodge and Hullbridge wards both have Independent candidates standing. In Hullbridge, the Independent is Councillor Tracey Knight who was previously a member of the Rochford and District Residents association. In Lodge, the Independent is Ian Wilson.
Both have the same election agent, the leader of the Independent and Green Group, the former leader of the Rochford and District Residents group, Councillor Michael Hoy.
Interestingly, the Rochford and District Residents party are not standing in either Lodge or Hullbridge. The only opponents for the independents are candidates from Labour and the Conservative Parties.
Britain First, who are listed on the ballot as ‘Britain First – British People First’ has a single candidate in Hockley and Ashingdon Ward.
Time will tell
However the votes are tallied in the local Election the fact remains that Rochford, like so much of the rural parts of East Anglia, is changing. Brexit has left its mark on the rural communities and the demands for housing are seeing a lot more development on brown field, or sometimes even green field sites.
Are the people that have changed most, the ones that want to stay the same?
