UKIP won 6 seats on Thurrock Council last week and the Conservatives lost control of the council. It appears that both Labour and the Conservatives expected to get a good kicking at the ballot box and hatched a plan to frustrate voters and keep power in their hands.
After last year's local elections, UKIP groups set about dismantling the cabinet system that has been undermining accountability in local government for years and bringing about a return to the committee system that ensures all councillors have a part to play in how the council is run, not just a minority of the councillors from the party that got the largest minority of votes. It seems that a lust for power and the lucrative allowances cabinet members reward themselves with have helped Labour and the Conservatives to find common ground after opposing each other for decades.
Stuart Parr is a 
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