At a Glance
- Labour will continue leading Southend-on-Sea City Council as part of a Joint Administration
- No single party secured an outright majority following the recent local elections
- Labour has partnered with the Liberal Democrats and agreed to work with the Rochford and Southend East Independent Group
- Councillor Daniel Cowan remains Leader of the Council
- A refreshed Cabinet has now been confirmed for 2026/27
- Key priorities include regeneration and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
A Joint Administration will continue to lead Southend-on-Sea City Council after being voted in at Full Council (Monday 18 May).
At the recent local elections, no party gained the required majority (26 seats) to lead the council outright. However, the Labour Party has 17 seats and have formed a minority joint administration with the Liberal Democrats group. They have also agreed to work with the Rochford and Southend East Independent* group.
Councillor Daniel Cowan is the Leader of the Council and after appointing his cabinet at the meeting, said:
“It is a great honour to continue as the Leader of the Council. I am looking forward to working with a renewed cabinet to continue to build a better city on behalf of all our residents, businesses and local partners.
“We will work well together to form the most stable administration that we can do for the city council. This will ensure we continue to deliver our Joint Administration priorities that we have already begun to deliver meaningful progress. The focus will be around regeneration and ensuring we progress safely through LGR.
“We are also looking forward to working with all council staff to achieve this, as we recognise the important contributions of council officers who do their jobs so well.”
New Cabinet appointments
The new Cabinet is as follows:
- Cllr Daniel Cowan, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and LGR
- Cllr Maxine Sadza, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Social Care and Healthier Communities
- Cllr Irene Ferguson, Cabinet Member for Housing and Preventing Homelessness
- Cllr Mandy O’Connor, Cabinet Member for Children and SEND
- Cllr Kevin Robinson, Cabinet Member for Planning, Property and Governance
- Cllr Matt Dent, Cabinet Member for Business, Culture, Music and Tourism
- Cllr Cheryl Nevin, Cabinet Member for Civic Pride
- Cllr Paul Collins, Cabinet Member for Finance and Transport
- Cllr Ron Woodley, Cabinet Member for Capital Projects and Public Protection
- Cllr Chris Webster, Cabinet Member for Technology, Learning, and Customer Cervices