An election to

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

took place on 9 May 2005 as part of the

2005 United Kingdom local elections Elections for local government were held in England and Northern Ireland on 5 May 2005 along with the 2005 general election across the entire United Kingdom. In addition, the Isle of Wight held a local referendum on the issue of a directly el ...

. 75 councillors were elected from various electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were redrawn for this election. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

retained control with an increased majority, winning 52 of the 75 seats.

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and the Liberal Democrats both lost seats.

Previous composition

2001 election

Composition of council seats before election

Results

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Election of Group Leaders

Paul White (Stock) was re elected leader of the Conservative Group, Tom Smith-Hughes (Chelmsford North) was elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Group and Paul Kirkman (Pitsea) was elected leader of the Labour Group.

Election of Leader of the Council

Paul White the leader of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

group was duly elected leader of the council and formed a conservative administration.

Results by District

Basildon

District summary Division results Between 2001 and 2005, the seat was won by the Liberal Democrats candidate in a by-election, however it is shown as a hold as it is compared to the previous full council election.