Councillors will vote on removing leader Daniel Cowan at 6.30pm on Tuesday 17 November. Conservative and Reform UK councillors called the meeting over the Local Plan.

Southend councillors will vote next week on whether to remove the leader of the council, Cllr Daniel Cowan. An extraordinary meeting of the full council has been called for 6.30pm on Tuesday 17 November at the Civic Centre.

Two opposition groups asked for it separately. Both blame the leader for the government’s intervention in the city’s Local Plan. The council published both requests with the agenda on 9 November (agenda, Council, 17 November 2026).

Overview

  • When: Tuesday 17 November 2026, 6.30pm, Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue.
  • What: a motion of no confidence in the leader, a vote to remove him, and, if the post becomes vacant, the election of a new leader on the night.
  • Who called it: six Conservative councillors and ten Reform UK councillors, in two separate requests. Non-aligned Cllr Stephen Aylen backs the Reform UK request.
  • Why: both requests cite the housing minister’s 23 October direction ordering the council to publish its draft Local Plan.

What the council will be asked

The agenda has one item of business. It asks the council to consider:

  • that “this Council has no confidence in the current Leader and therefore resolves to remove the Leader”
  • that “this Council elects a new Leader of the Council”

The Mayor considered the two requests and agreed to convene the meeting, the chief executive’s notice says. Councillors can force an extraordinary meeting under Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 (agenda frontsheet, 9 November 2026).

Why the Conservatives want him out

Cllr James Courtenay, leader of the Conservative group and of the opposition, sent his request to the chief executive on 25 October. Five other Conservative councillors supported it: Lesley Salter, James Moyies, Owen Cartey, Colin Campbell and Martin Bright.

Their motion notes that on 23 October the housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, used his powers under section 27 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. He directed the council to move to the formal consultation stage of its Local Plan. The motion says the minister found that “continuous delay” in the plan was evidence of a failure to do something necessary.

The motion calls the intervention “a serious failure of political leadership”. It says central government is now using statutory powers “over a matter of critical importance to the future development of the City” (Conservative requisition and motion, 25 October 2026).

Why Reform UK wants him out

Ten Reform UK councillors signed a separate letter, also dated 25 October. The first name on it is Cllr James O’Rourke, the group’s deputy leader.

The letter says the group had been given “assurances” that taking the Local Plan to consultation would be a decision of full council, and then learnt it was a Cabinet decision. It says the leader wrote to the minister blaming full council for not supporting the draft, and that this brought the intervention. “This isn’t Leadership, it is a complete dereliction of duty,” the letter says (Reform UK group requisition, 25 October 2026).

Those are the group’s claims. The council has published no response from Cllr Cowan with the agenda.

How the numbers stack up

The council has 51 seats. One is empty: the Leigh ward seat, which goes to a by-election on 10 December. That leaves 50 serving councillors. The council’s own list of members by party shows (Southend-on-Sea City Council, councillors by party):

Group Councillors
Labour (including 3 Labour and Co-operative) 17
Conservative 11
Reform UK 11
Green 3
Liberal Democrat 3
Rochford and Southend East Independents 3
Not aligned to a party 2
Total serving 50

The Cabinet is not Labour alone. The same list names Cllr Paul Collins, the Liberal Democrat group leader, as Cabinet member for finance and transport, and Cllr Ron Woodley of the Independents as Cabinet member for capital projects and public protection.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Independents hold 23 seats between them. The Conservatives, Reform UK and Cllr Aylen also hold 23. The three Green councillors and the other non-aligned councillor, Cllr Martin Berry, have not signed either request.

The Mayor, who chairs full council, is Cllr Tony Cox, the leader of the Reform UK group. Under the 1972 Act, whoever presides at a council meeting has a second or casting vote if a vote is tied (Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12, paragraph 39).

What it means for you

Who leads the council decides who sits in the Cabinet, and the Cabinet takes most of the council’s big decisions. That includes the next steps on the Local Plan, which proposes 14,700 homes to 2045.

A change of leader does not stop the Local Plan consultation. The minister’s direction requires it, and it runs until 5pm on Monday 21 December. We reported what is in the draft in Southend Local Plan: Comments Open to 21 December.

The meeting is public. You can watch from the public gallery at the Civic Centre or follow the council’s webcast, which is linked from the meeting page. The council’s own list of meetings and agendas will carry the decision once it is recorded.

We will report the result.