18 seats were up for election across the Epping Forest district on Thursday 5th May this year. In the two Epping seats, the following results were returned:
EPPING HEMNALL WARD
Ken Avey – Conservative – 951 votes (42% of the vote) *ELECTED*
Simon Hughes – Lib Dem – 821 votes (36% of the vote)
Simon Bullough – Labour – 231 votes (10% of the vote)
Andrew Smith – UKIP – 185 votes (8% of the vote)
Victoria Meier – Green – 83 votes (4% of the vote)
EPPING LINDSEY & THORNWOOD COMMON WARD
Sarah Packford – Conservative – 1047 votes (49% of the vote) *ELECTED*
Steven Harding – Labour – 430 votes (20% of the vote)
Lynn Highes – Liberal Democrat – 366 votes (17% of the vote)
Michael McGough – UKIP – 190 votes (9% of the vote)
John Hart – Green – 99 votes (5% of the vote)
To read the full results of the district’s elections, please click here.
Although I have been unable to have been as visible on the campaign trail as I would like this year, many people have approached me to ask about the forthcoming "Alternative Vote" or "AV" Referendum which is due to take place on the same day as the local elections this year, on Thursday 5th May. It's very easy for me to respond with: "I shall be voting no to the introduction of an AV voting system", but explaining the reasons why are somewhat more complicated.
In essence, I wholeheartedly believe in a system which gives each and every person in the country one vote. In my opinion, that is clear, fair and provides the electorate with a simple result which they can trust. Under AV, the electorate have to rank candidates in order of preference and anyone getting more than 50% in the first round of counting is elected. If that doesn't happen, then candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the second choices listed on those ballot papers are allocated to the remaining candidates. If no candidate at the second stage has a majority of votes, the next lowest candidate is eliminated and their votes are redistributed. The process continues until a winner is declared.So what does this process mean in practice? It means that you end up with a Parliament full of candidate
s who are second or third or forth on the list people actually want to elect. That is so fundamentally wrong in my opinion. Worst still, it means the end to any form of a decisive government with a clear publicly endorsed mandate. At the last election, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats views were almost totally opposed, yet deals were done in a closed room by a handful of politicians to form a coalition agreement and a mandate for the government. That is not good for either parties, it's not good for democracy and it's certainly not good for the country!
It's all very well and good criticising the proposals, but what do I think could improve the current system. Well, I believe in a much more open way of selecting candidates, much like they do in the US, via open primaries. This process allows every member of the public, not just paying members of a political party, to engage in selecting parliamentary candidates. Public meetings, Q&A sessions, proper campaigns with each candidate on a level playing field. This is really democratic, open and transparent. One person and one vote. The Conservative Party used open primaries in many constituencies to select candidates before the last general election with great engagement and success.
It's very easy to think any change must be good, but the decision which you are empowered to influence on Thursday may have a profound and lasting effect on our country.
Please think carefully before casting your vote!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12467538
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAWmKgIOqv8&feature=player_embedded
The Returning Officer for Epping Forest has declared the following results of Epping’s District Council elections held on Thursday 6th May 2010:
EPPING LINDSEY & THORNWOOD COMMON WARD
Will Breare-Hall - Conservative - 1,692 (49%)
Lorraine Collier - Lib Dem - 1,264 (37%)
Simon David Bullough - Labour - 341 (10)
Barry George Johns - Green - 133 (4%)
Total Turnout - 71%
EPPING HEMNALL WARD 
Janet Hilda Whitehouse - Lib Dem - 1,632 (47%)Kenneth Avey - Conservative - 1,348 (38%)
Michael Finan - Labour - 234 (7%)
Andrew George Smith - UKIP - 232 (7%)
Jam Berecutt - Green - 62 (2%)
Total Turnout - 71%
You may also be interested to note that Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Epping Forest, Ann Haigh, who was also standing for re-election for the Buckhurst Hill West ward on Epping Forest District Council lost her seat to Conservative candidate Sylvia Watson, pushing the Lib Dems out of the role of ‘Official Opposition’ being replaced by the LRA. The BNP also lost all of the seats they were contesting in Loughton, leaving them with just one Councillor in Pat Richardson who spoke about the party’s losses suggested this was “down to poor schooling.”
The new make-up of the Council’s 58 seats are as follows: Conservatives: 36, Loughton Residents Association: 11, Liberal Democrats: 7, Independents: 2, Labour: 1.
As someone who has spent many years on local doorsteps discussing forthcoming elections, I know only too well the frustration people have when you tell them they are unable to vote because they are not registered. The usual responses are: “But I pay my Council Tax” or “I send that form back last year”, neither of which make any difference unfortunately.
Registering to vote is really simple. If you haven’t ready received a form through the post you can download and fill in a form online from the About My Vote website.
Alternatively you can telephone the elections team on 01992 564411 and they can post or email you a copy. All you need to do is complete the form and return to it: Elections Team, Civic Offices, High Street, Epping, Essex, CM16 4BZ. The deadline for all registrations is Tuesday 20th April 2010.
If you want to have a say in the Parliamentary and District Council elections this year, all you have to do is complete the simple form!
Epping Forest District Council has issued public notification of their intention to host an election of twenty District Councillors on Thursday 6th May 2010. This is widely believed to be the planned date of the General Election where residents will be asked to vote to elect a Member of Parliament.
Nominations are now open for those wanting to stand in the poll can obtain the relevant documentation from the Civic Offices, High Street, Epping, CM16 4BZ or by calling Electoral Services on 01992 564000. All nomination papers must be delivered to the Returning Officer at the Civic Offices by 12pm on Thursday 8th April 2010.
Epping has two District Council seats up for election 
this year Epping Hemnall and Epping Lindsey & Thornwood Common. For more information on elections, please click here.
Epping Town Council have requested that Epping Forest District Council conduct a community governance review to alter the existing electoral arrangements for Epping Town Council to a system where 6 Council members in each of Epping’s 2 wards are elected every 4 years, as it is at present, but with elections in each ward separated by an interval of 2 years.
The current arrangements require all 12 Councillors to vacate their seats every 4 years, which means it is possible that 12 totally inexperienced Councillors could be elected and required to run a relatively large town council in key positions, such as Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Chairman of planning and general purposes and the Key Member for Finance.
For a full list of current Town Councillors & their responsibilities, please click here.
If I h
ad a penny for every time I have knocked on someone’s door and had to explain that you actually have to be registered to vote before you can do so, I would be a very rich man! If I had another penny for every time someone has responded, “but I pay my Council Tax”, I would be laughing!
With a General Election expected in May next year, I am working with Epping Forest District Council’s Electoral Registration Officer, Ian Willett, to ensure that as many people over the age of 18 are registered to vote in Epping Forest and have their say in who their MP should be and who forms this country’s next Government.
Ian Willett said: “It’s simple to register, all you have to do is complete the annual canvass form that will be coming through your letter box shortly and you’ll be able to help choose the people that make the decisions which affect your everyday life. For some people, this may be the first General Election that they get to take part in and they may be worried about what to do. Last year many young people who were 1
8 by June 2009 couldn’t vote because their names hadn’t been added to the canvass form. All 16 and 17 year olds should give their name and date of birth so they can vote as soon as they become 18. You can find out more by calling the Electoral Services helpline on 01992 564411.”
The rules are pretty simple: If you’re not registered to vote, you can‘t vote! The sensible thing to do is ensure you are registered. Whether or not you decide to vote on the day is up to you, but if you don’t register now, it will be too late!
Epping Forest Youth Council is an elected group of non-arty political young people between the ages of 13 to 19 who live in the Epping Forest District. The Youth Council was formed in 2007 primarily to involve young people in the decisions made by Epping Forest District Council. The Council wanted to know what young people thought about its services and about the issues that affect them.
The Youth Councillors are now planning the 2nd Youth Election and schools, youth groups and Epping Forest College will hold Youth Elections at the end of September. Any one aged 13 to 17 who lives in Epping Forest can nominate themselves to stand as a Youth Councillor and, if elected, they will sit for 2 years and be required to attend 2 evening meetings a month. There are 5 independent seats for young people who either attend school or College outside of the district, are excluded from school, home educated or are working.
For more information, you can download an information pack by clicking here. Alternatively, you can contact Dian Butler, Young Persons’ Officer on 01992 564365 or by emailing her at dbutler@eppingforestdc.gov.uk
The East of England elects 7 seats to the European Parliament and the following are our region's new representatives: 
Conservative Party - 3 SEATS:
* Geoffrey Van Orden MEP
* Robert Sturdy MEP
* Vicky Ford MEP
UK Independence Party - 2 SEATS
* David Campbell Bannerman MEP
* John Agnew MEP
Liberal Democrats - 1 SEAT
* Andrew Duff MEP
Labour Party - 1 SEAT
* Richard Howitt MEP
Total Eletcorate: 4,252,669
Total Turnout: 1,603,340 (37.7%)
The full breakdown of voting is as below:
PARTY - VOTES (%)
Conservative - 500,331 (31.2%)
UK Independence Party - 313,921 (19.6%)
Liberal Democrats - 221,235 (13.8%)
Labour - 167,833 (10.5%)
Green Party - 141,016 (8.8%)
British National Party - 97,013 (6.1%)
United Kingdom First - 38,185 (2.4%)
English Democrat - 32,211 (2.0%)
Christian Party - 24,646 (1.5%)
No2EU - 13,939 (0.9%)
Socialist Labour Party - 13,599 (0.8%)
Animals Count - 13,201 (0.8%)
Libertas - 9,940 (0.6%)
Independent - Peter Rigby - 9,916 (0.6%)
Jury Team - 6,354 (0.4%)
For the full breakdown of results for the UK and across Europe, please click here.
Epping, Thornwood, Coopersale and Theydon Bois elects 1 seat to Essex County Council.
Candidate - Political Party - Votes - (%)
Whitehouse, Janet Hilda - Liberal Democrat - 2,481 - (42.35%)
Surguy, James Edward - Conservative - 2,080 - (35.5%)
Smith, Andrew George - UKIP - 581 - (9.92%) 
Frankland, Tony - BNP - 306 - (5.22%)
Kieve, Daniel Joseph - Green Party - 219 - (3.74%)Bullough, Simon David - Labour - 192 - (3.28%)
Total number of votes cast: 5,859
Total number of eligible voters: 12,903
Division Turnout: 45.41% * Janet Hilda Whitehouse is hereby elected to Essex County Council until 2013.For more election results from across Essex county, please click here.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there are two elections taking place today: European Parliamentary elections (list of candidates can be found here) to elect your MEPs for the Eastern Region and Essex County Council elections to elect your new Councillor for Epping and Theydon Bois.
ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL CANDIDATES:
Surguy, James: The Conservative Party
Smith, Andrew: UK Independence
Bullough, Simon: The Labour Party
Frankland, Tony: British National Party
Whitehouse, Janet: Liberal Democrat
Kieve, Daniel: The Green Party
Polling Stations in Epping Town open at 7am & close at 10pm:
* Allnuts Institute Hall, Allnuts Road, Epping
* Coopersale Social Institute Hall, Institute Road, Coopersale
* Pelly Court Hall, Hemnall Street, Epping
* United Reform Church Hall, Lindsey Street, Epping
* Epping Hall, St. John’s Road, Epping
More information on these elections can be found here.
