1978 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council election

Incumbent councillors standing for re-election are marked with an asterisk (*). Changes in seats do not take into account by-elections or defections.

Belfairs

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Heath	2,472	69.3	+9.8
	Liberal	E. Griggs	671	18.8	–10.2
	Labour	A. Francis	422	11.8	+0.4
Majority			1,801	50.5	N/A
Turnout			3,565	36.5	–7.5
Registered electors			9,756
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.0

Blenheim

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Bone	2,133	62.4	+1.7
	Liberal	T. Ray	658	19.2	–20.1
	Labour	C. Newman	505	14.8	N/A
	National Front	P. Twomey	125	3.7	N/A
Majority			1,475	43.1	N/A
Turnout			3,421	34.5	–3.8
Registered electors			9,917
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.9

Chalkwell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. Murphy	2,581	67.9	+8.4
	Liberal	J. Keith	947	24.9	–6.5
	Labour	K. Leaman	275	7.2	–2.0
Majority			1,634	43.0	N/A
Turnout			3,803	40.1	–2.6
Registered electors			9,485
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.5

Leigh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	C. Titman*	2,519	49.2	–2.2
	Conservative	P. Bohling	2,391	46.7	+2.8
	Labour	P. Harrison	208	4.1	–0.6
Majority			128	2.5	N/A
Turnout			5,118	53.1	+2.4
Registered electors			9,635
	Liberal hold		Swing	2.5

Milton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	K. Cater	1,580	65.9	+7.9
	Labour	D. Waring	819	34.1	+7.8
Majority			761	31.8	N/A
Turnout			2,399	31.7	+3.0
Registered electors			8,973
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.1

Prittlewell

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Myers	1,845	43.5	–3.0
	Liberal	J. Hugill*	1,836	43.3	–10.2
	Labour	E. Wilson	557	13.1	N/A
Majority			9	0.2	N/A
Turnout			4,238	42.0	+0.5
Registered electors			10,083
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	3.6

Shoebury

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Levy	1,868	55.5	–4.8
	Labour	D. Jeffrey	1,138	33.8	–5.9
	Liberal	J. O'Neill	362	10.7	N/A
Majority			730	21.7	N/A
Turnout			3,368	32.4	–4.0
Registered electors			10,400
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.6

Southchurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	S. Bull*	2,096	74.0	–3.8
	Labour	H. Mapp	735	26.0	+3.8
Majority			1,361	48.1	N/A
Turnout			2,831	29.2	–9.1
Registered electors			9,698
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.8

St Lukes

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Richmond*	1,234	48.0	+14.9
	Labour	N. Boorman	1,186	46.1	+10.8
	National Front	E. Jones	152	5.9	N/A
Majority			48	1.9	N/A
Turnout			2,572	29.2	–3.1
Registered electors			8,803
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.1

Thorpe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	N. Moss*	2,741	84.7	+16.8
	Labour	K. Redmond	495	15.3	+3.7
Majority			2,246	69.4	N/A
Turnout			3,236	34.4	–3.9
Registered electors			9,409
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.6

Victoria

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Kennedy	1,298	50.6	+8.2
	Conservative	A. Fuller	1,265	49.4	+10.4
Majority			33	1.3	N/A
Turnout			2,563	26.3	–3.4
Registered electors			9,754
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	1.1

Westborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Winkley*	1,845	44.9	–2.0
	Labour	A. Hurst	1,374	33.5	+9.9
	Liberal	M. Lubel	886	21.6	–8.0
Majority			471	11.5	N/A
Turnout			4,105	44.7	+1.9
Registered electors			9,190
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.0