Confelicity candidates are ready for action! As the David to the national parties Goliath, our campaign budget could never compete, but our candidates can!

Starting a party from scratch means all things are possible. It also means it is pretty chaotic as there are so many decisions to make about so many things.

It has been quite a journey since our founding four years ago. Two months before the 2022 local elections I was informed Confelicity was successfully a new party with the Electoral Commission.

With this I put together a team of 17 people to stand in the election who I thought, in my humble opinion, would be great councillors. We put together a manifesto that was small, but we felt reflected local needs.

With only 700 odd votes earned at the polls, I was both disappointed, but got it : it takes a long time to earn trust.

With the trolls conflating my career and the party, progress has been slower than I would have hoped. However, behind the scenes I can tell you that we have attracted so many passionate and capable people and that is where the real progress has been made.

I won’t go through everyone, and any member of the party I miss out please do accept my apologies!

Simon Jones (West Shoebury)

I first met Simon Jones, now our Deputy Leader standing in West Shoebury, after he got in touch and shared his passion for Southend. We met for coffee and the deal was done! He is one of the most inspirational people I have ever met. A teacher in one of our local schools, he has a never-ending bundle of policies that show how much he cares for people.

Helen Symmons (West Leigh)

Simon was the one who managed to inspire Helen Symmons, our candidate in West Leigh. What a privilege it has been for Helen to have joined us. She was the Town Clerk for Leigh Town Council and has so much experience she will hit the ground running. Our monthly meetings are notoriously ‘passionate’ and she has quickly moved to becoming the Chair. Those in Leigh already know just how competent, intelligent and diligent she is and I couldn’t agree more. No wonder everyone in West Leigh is saying they’d vote for her!

Diane Sossou (Thorpe)

Diane Sossou rang me after liking what we’re about. I left the call thinking what a powerhouse of a lady! Very direct, very honest - basically, she tells it how it is. It wasn’t a surprise to learn she is high up in one of the highest performing schools in Southend. Nothing gets past her and at the meetings she always finds the areas of weakness in the argument. Thorpe will be in great hands with Diane.

Karl Lansley (St Laurence)

Karl Lansley, standing in St Laurence, was introduced to the party by Lee Clark through their charity works. I knew of Karl through the Citizen of Southend Awards, which he won for his work raising over £250,000 for the Carli Lansley Foundation (https://www.carlilansleyfoundation.org.uk/).

I couldn’t believe he wanted to join, much less stand for election. Huge name in St Laurence, most will know him as he has been there his whole life and been an active member in that area.

He is such a humble guy, but he has so much experience in the world of helping people. He recently participated in the SEND hustings and I can see him getting to the heart of the adult and child social care issues we currently have.

Lee Clark (Kursaal)

Lee Clark has probably run the best campaign across Southend. He has been able to do this because it is based on what has actually done. (Although his actual campaign has been first class!).

He founded the Better Parks group as he took the time to visit all the parks quickly was they didn’t match the £1m spent on them - coincidentally in election time.

He was the one who first brought attention Labour’s insistence to keep the money for Poppies on the Pier for which they eventual changed. He has highlighted the £3.5 million pier trains sitting in bubble wrap on the pier.

He spoke out about the closure of Southchurch Library.

But most importantly, he has helped hundreds of residents with their issues. He has visited them at their call and does everything in his power to help. I can’t imagine if he had access to all he council resources what he could do for the Kursaal residents. He really is a guy that will make a difference and is a man of the people.

Me (Southchurch)

I shall humbly speak about myself as I think I would be pretty good on the council!

My focus has been on policy. I watch all the council meetings and have written many blogs that have communicated what they are doing. I remember a while ago Cllr Cowan talking about the Bournes Green green belt as “just a load of low quality over worked agriculture fields which people can’t access anyway”.

As soon as I saw this I knew what was up and shortly after it was public that Labour wanted to concrete the whole place. My green belt campaign started from there and I have arranged the three widely publicised protests and helped form the South East Essex Green Belters Group. I also started the ‘Save Bournes Green Green Belt’ Group.

I will never stop until this is reversed and I don’t care when I hear “what about the government targets”? They are made up by algorithm, they are not real numbers. We need a Local Plan that does not include this land. We need a council who rallies against it, not cheerleads into the city. Yes, the government has the deciding say, but it is up to us to help them decide! A local referendum on this subject is something that would really concrete Southend residents’ opinions on this matter once and for all.

From my watching of these quite long and often dreary council meetings, I picked up on Cllr Cowan’s desire to demolish Southchurch Library. I started an e-petition and it reached almost 400 (a great number in the context of council e-petitions) and it will be referred to Cabinet.

I have also brought attention to Southend Labour’s contradictory position where they invited the Chief Operarions Officer of the University of Essex to sell the Southend Campus at the Labour organised Southend Investment Summit. So far, not many have paid attention to this, but I hope as time goes on their reliance on them to save them will end in tears. It’s not as though Labour are not holding all the political strings locally and nationally. And the uni is not a business - certainly not in the traditional sense. It is large government funded and there are levers that could be pulled - they’re just choosing not to.

It didn’t take much to highlight how disastrous filling in the Queensway underpass would be as we can now all feel the consequences as we’re waiting in traffic jams. Horrendous decision that I had reported happening a while ago when the developers of Better Queensway went bust.

So yes, in regard to scrutinising policy, I would be pretty useful on the council.

Honourable mentions

Honourable mentions go to all our other candidates.

They may not be as visible to the public, but they are more than just paper candidates.

Take the likes of Jolene Hills, who owns and operates the Cobham Hotel and Castle Hotel; those who know her understand exactly what a dynamite she would be on the council representing Victoria. Or Sandy Van Deventer, owner of the award winning Seafood Shack in Milton. Great sense of humour but as forthright as you can find.

But all our candidates in their own way would be fine additions, if I do say so myself, to the council. Melissa, Jamie, Ronish, Rob, Liam, Elizabeth, Nicky, Kayleigh and Simon - all great people whom I have the utmost respect: https://www.southendconfelicityparty.co.uk/confelicitycandidates2026

As a party funded only by our members, our campaign budget probably didn’t stretch more than £1000 between us all. We have relied on social media to communicate our local message, and we hope it reached you and it was a message you resonated with.

Whatever happens at the vote tonight, our party will continue to grow person-by-person, conversation-by-conversation, and we hope you can join us in our locally-focussed, Southend devoted journey, so we can field even more talented Confelicity candidates at the next election.