WE HAVE always found Ockendon to be a bit tricky or maybe we are just terrible at predicting.
We often saw this as a swing ward but we think we may have been living in the past.
Now it has three Conservative councillors.
in 2022 they Tories won by 144. Looking at the current situation, that is eminently gettable.
On paper.
It may well depend on Andrew Jeffries personal profile. He has certainly been part of the Tory administration that has left the borough in a black hole but he has also been a presence in Ockendon for quite some time now.
Having said that, the good people of Brandon Groves are not happy about their bin collections and grass cuttings. So he could be kicked to the kerb.
Like a lot of wards, it may be a matter of how many voters and Tory voters stay at home.
If Labour can hold up their vote, then they may well benefit from 200 Tory voters staying put on Thursday.
Labour used to have a number of oval councillors who were embedded in the ward. We think back to the late Barry Lawrence.
But perhaps Gary Watson is the man to pick that trend. If Labour out a big effort over the next week, they cool take this one. Could be significant.
Many may think that if Labour can’t win Ockendon now then they will never will
YT Prediction: Lab Gain
