Back in June, we published our thoughts on the sudden departure of Gavin Callaghan, the former Labour leader of Basildon Council, from his role as ward councillor for Pitsea North West: A sudden departure for Gavin Callaghan. A departure which triggered a by-election that has just taken place. Here are the results:

Pitsea North West Ward By-Election – Thursday, 29th July, 2021

Pitsea North West – results | Election Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Outcome

Stuart Terson – Conservative | 794 | 57% | Elected

Aidan McGurran – Labour | 430 | 31% | Not elected

Jake Hogg – Basildon Community Residents Party | 82 | 6% | Not elected

Martin Keith Howard – Liberal Democrats | 57 | 4% | Not elected

Daniel Charles Raymond Tooley – Reform UK | 23 | 2% | Not elected

Christopher David Bateman – The For Britain Movement | 19 | 1% | Not elected

Voting Summary Details

Total votes – 1405

Electorate – 9479

Number of ballot papers issued – 1415

Number of ballot papers rejected – 6

Turnout – 15%

When you look at the results for the local elections back in May, that is one heck of a reversal for Labour and for the Tories, probably quite a pleasant surprise in picking up another seat:

Basildon Borough Council Election – Thursday, 6th May, 2021

Pitsea North West Ward

Pitsea North West – results | Election Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Outcome

Gavin Callaghan – Labour | 1101 | 47% | Elected

Stuart James Burke Terson – Conservative | 987 | 42% | Not elected

Jake Hogg – Basildon Community Residents Party | 213 | 9% | Not elected

Martin Keith Howard – Liberal Democrats | 63 | 3% | Not elected

Voting Summary Details

Total votes – 2364

Electorate – 9443

Number of ballot papers issued – 2383

Number of ballot papers rejected – 15

Turnout – 25%

Bear in the mind that the turnout for the by-election was a mere 15% – down from an already low 25% back in May. It could well be that the voters were just glad to see the back of Callaghan and weren’t that bothered about who took his place. Then again, it could be that they were turned off by Callaghan sticking his oar in yet again with a letter sent to every voter in the ward attempting to big up his record in power and extolling the virtues of the Labour candidate, Aidan McGurran. A candidate who when Callaghan was running the show, gained a bit of a reputation for being his ‘enforcer’. Anyway, here’s the letter:

A letter which turned out to be the metaphorical kiss of death for McGurran. Even though Callaghan has departed the local political scene, it shouldn’t really come as any surprise that he had to take one last opportunity to make it all about him. A move which understandably, did not go down well with the electorate…

For those of you who are interested in Callaghan’s future career path, here’s his bit of blurb on the Global Partners Governance site – https://gpgovernance.net/associates/gavin-callaghan/ It looks as though Callaghan is no longer involved with Cratus Communications although his former ‘enforcer’, Aidan McGurran, is an associate – https://cratus.co.uk/team Interesting, very interesting… As we wrote all the way back in September 2018 – What a tangled web they weave.

As for Global Partners Governance, well, unlike Cratus Communications, they’re not a property company which probably comes as a relief to a lot of people in Basildon. What Global Partners Governance actually do is a bit of a mystery – https://gpgovernance.net/about-us/ The usual think tank waffle which tries to present a public face while avoiding saying anything remotely concrete about what they do. With our The Estuary Stirrer hat on, we’ll be keeping an eye on this one…