Conservatives - Thurrock & Basildon

11/04/2026

A successful campaign session in Little Thurrock Blackshots for 2 brilliant Conservative Councillor Candidates, Lizzie Rigby and Joglur Rahman 🗳️

09/04/2026

25/03/2026

the Government's announcement on LGR

Thurrock Conservative Leader Cllr Coxshall has said:
I am hugely disappointed with the government's decision for five unitary authorities across Essex. This is not the right decision for Essex, and this is not the right decision for Thurrock.

Thurrock and Basildon have some of the highest debts in Essex. The government announced £200m of debt relief yesterday, but this does not allow the new authority to start on a good financial footing. The new authority will be too small and financially trapped on Day 1- unable to deliver for the people of Thurrock or Basildon.

This is a missed opportunity. We could have had a South Essex council along the Thames, from Thurrock to Southend, which would provide the strategic vision we need to unlock the unique potential we have with the Thames. However, yet again Labour this decisions shows the lack strategic vision they have for Essex

16/02/2026

Cllr Coxshall
As usual, the Labour Government has u-turned and agreed that it was wholly wrong to attempt to postpone May’s local elections.

I have never once supported plans to postpone our elections and have been deeply concerned about how openly the Labour Government offered postponement opportunities, despite having no confirmed vision for Local Government Reorganisation.

From day one, I have said that the timetable for Local Government Reorganisation was not fit for purpose and that it was a weak case for postponing local elections on the grounds of ‘capacity concerns.’

The complete dismissal of the Electoral Commission’s concerns has now come home to roost, with today’s announcement demonstrating just how weak this Labour Government really is.

We all know why the Government wanted to postpone elections - it knows it is about to get a pasting and was hiding behind the fig leaf of Local Government Reorganisation.

Well, you can’t escape democracy. Here in Thurrock, the elections would have been cancelled for a second year. I am quite appalled that the Labour Council asked to avoid the ballot box without any clarity about the future.”

22/01/2026

Statement from Cllr George Coxshall, Leader of the Conservative Group, in response to the Government’s announcement that Thurrock’s elections will be postponed

“The Labour Government's decision today is a frank dismissal of the concerns raised by the Electoral Commission, an independent body established by statute to oversee elections, which stated that capacity concerns were not a legitimate basis for postponing local elections.

"There is no consistency across Essex: Thurrock is the only upper-tier authority to have its elections postponed, while lower-tier authorities have taken a pick-and-mix approach to whether their elections go ahead.

"The Labour Government’s decision creates confusion across the county and is unacceptable, especially given that we do not know what Local Government Reorganisation will look like in Essex, with four possible options yet to be agreed.”

11/12/2025

Hundreds of Free Festive Meals for Veterans, Armed Forces, Police Officers and Ambulance Crews in Thurrock

Conservative Councillor Qaisar Abbas has launched the “Thank You Festive Meals” initiative to recognise and thank Veterans, Armed Forces personnel, Police Officers and Ambulance Crews for their outstanding services during the Christmas and New Year period.

Speaking at the launch, Cllr Qaisar Abbas said: “I am pleased to launch the Thank You Festive Meals initiative. These outstanding service personnel go above and beyond to protect and support us during the most difficult and challenging times. This initiative is our small token of appreciation and a festive gift to thank them for their services. I thank all our Proud Partner restaurants, cafes and takeaways who have generously joined this initiative. They are small local businesses with big hearts.”

The Thank You Meals will be available from 20 December to 30 December 2025 at 29 Proud Partner restaurants and takeaways across Thurrock. Each Proud Partner will provide one free meal per day on a first-come, first-served basis throughout this period.

The Proud Partners have displayed a Thank You Festive Meal sticker at their entrance. The mentioned heroes are requested to show their service ID to claim one Thank You Meal.

A full list of Proud Partners and further details can be found at: www.fb.com/ThankYouMeals

Restaurants, cafés or takeaways wishing to join this initiative can contact Cllr Qaisar Abbas at www.fb.com/qaisarabbasuk

05/12/2025

Thurrock Conservative Attack Labour's Election Denying Plans

This year, Thurrock residents saw their elections postponed for a year, under the promise of being in a fast-tracked programme for Local Government Reorganisation and devolution. Now, the government has decided there is no fast-track programme and elections for the proposed mayor have been delayed for two years.

The Leader of Thurrock Conservatives, Cllr George Coxshall, has said:

“I warned in January that the government-issued timeline appeared rushed, and attempting Local Government Reorganisation and Devolution in such a manner would be difficult. All my concerns have been confirmed, despite Labour’s insistence that everything will be delivered on time, giving them a justifiable reason to postpone our elections this year.

“With no legislation or legal provisions in place for the Mayor’s election, Labour have kicked the can down the road by overpromising and under-delivering. Instead, we now face two years of dithering and postponement, when a Mayor working for Essex could be helping to deliver the change we need.

“The hokey cokey attitude shown by this Labour Government week by week is astonishing, with today’s omnishambles exposing the weakness of their previous decision to deny Thurrock a vote at the ballot box.”

10/11/2025

Senior Conservative Councillor Qaisar Abbas hosted the Fourth Annual Interfaith Conference in Thurrock.

This year’s conference took place in Stanford-Le-Hope, bringing together a wide range of faith, community, and civic leaders. Attendees included His Majesty’s Deputy Lieutenant of Essex, the Mayor of Thurrock, the Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, the Acting Thurrock District Police Commander, and a Labour councillor.

The leaders and representatives of many faith and non-faith organisations were in attendance, including Vietnamese Buddhist monks, Punjab Police officers, former Punjab Assembly member, University and Schools students, Aura and spiritual healers, awareness campaigners, and community elders.

The HM’s Deputy Lieutenant of Essex and the Mayor of Thurrock addressed the conference as special guests, while the Deputy PFCC and Acting District Commander outlined their vision and community safety priorities for Thurrock and Essex.

Faith and community leaders appreciated Cllr Abbas’s ongoing work to promoting understanding and cooperation among Thurrock’s diverse faiths and communities and spoke on wide range of topics covering community cohesion, importance of interfaith dialogue, role of religious leaders and places in multi faith and multi cultural societies, and importance of peace and integration.

The Gurdwara Grays representative voiced their concerns about local Council’s lack of understanding and cooperation with ethnic faith organisations. He specifically highlighted how the council ignored their concerns and petition affecting the Gurdwara and Grays Community Hall.

Dr Siraj Ali (Hon), Chair of the Thurrock Muslim Centre (TMC) and Stanford-Le-Hope Mosque, said: “We had a successful community open day in October, and now we’re welcoming leaders of different faiths and communities here. This demonstrates that our Mosque and Centre are open to everyone. We thank Cllr Abbas for hosting this conference here and providing us all with an opportunity to meet and connect.”

The organiser, Cllr Qaisar Abbas, said: “I am providing regular opportunities for faith and non-faith leaders to come together, exchange views, and build understanding among Thurrock’s diverse faiths and communities. I want to thank everyone for attending and extend my gratitude to the volunteers from Thurrock Muslim Centre, Stanford-Le-Hope Mosque, QAG’s Foundation, and Rawal Veritas for their support in making this event a success.”

14/10/2025

“Conservatives raise concerns on sale of registered community asset”

Conservative councillors raise serious concerns and disappointment on Labour run Thurrock Council’s plans to sell a vital registered community asset.

This registered community asset is adjacent to the Sikh Temple (Gurdwara) and community hall, its entrance is used for arrival and departure of funeral carts and other purposes by the hall users and members of local Sikh community.

Councillor Qaisar Abbas said: “The Thurrock Sikh community and Grays Gurdwara have been contributing in many ways in Thurrock from last 50 years. We do not understand why the council is so anxious and, in a hurry, to sell this particular tiny community registered asset while ignoring community’s numerous calls and knowingly creating problems for Thurrock’s peaceful Sikh community. The council gave wrong and contradictory information to complete the moratorium period and now proceeding to sell this important registered asset of community value. This is an outrageous decision, and I strongly condemn it.”

The Conservative councillors ask the Labour run council to withdraw this community asset from auction and offer this to only community registered organisations in a fair and transparent way.

The Thurrock Sikh community also presented a petition, signed by more than 1000 people and supported by many councillors, during full council meeting, asking to stop the sale of this land in the past.

The small strip of land is situated on Maidstone Road in Grays and had been granted asset of community value status by the Thurrock Council in 2024 as a result of the above petition and application.

The list of registered community assets in Thurrock can be viewed here: www.thurrock.gov.uk/sites/default/files/assets/documents/assetscommunityvalue-register-v22.pdf

02/05/2025

Congratulations to the new Conservative Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Paul Bristow!

Conservative GAIN from Labour.