Southend West by-election: 'I couldn't be bothered, I think it's a total mess'

Conservative candidate Anna Firth has been voted in as the new MP for Southend West following the fatal stabbing of Sir David Amess.

The by-election came at a time of turmoil within the government amid growing pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Sir David had been the area's MP since 1997 and the seat was not contested by Labour, the Liberal Democrats or the Greens.

Less than a quarter of the electorate turned out to vote, while there were twice as many spoiled ballot papers as there were votes for the second-placed candidate Jason Pilley, of the Psychedelic Movement.

What do people living in the 67,000-voter constituency, which includes Leigh-on-Sea, Westcliff-on-Sea and the Chalkwell area of Southend-on-Sea, make of the result?

A previously loyal Conservative voter for Sir David, Maureen Hampshire says she did not vote in the by-election.

"I couldn't be bothered," she says. "I think everything is a total mess.

"I think everybody has had enough of it all. I don't know who to vote for any more, basically."

The 70-year-old says she hopes Anna Firth, the new Conservative MP for Southend West, will follow in Sir David's footsteps.

Andrew Clark, 56, was one of the 75% of residents who did not vote in the by-election.

He is, he says, pleased with the outcome and hopes Anna Firth can build on Sir David's legacy.

"I was appalled because he was such a likeable person," he says. "He was an old fashioned MP and he wanted to do everything right by his constituents.

"It was deeply upsetting."

"I didn't [vote]," he says, "because Labour and the Liberal Democrats did not stand and to be honest I was working late last night."

Asked about the low turnout, Mr Clark says: "I think it is because there was no real opposition.

"The winner got a 12,000 majority and I think it is a bit of a safe seat - I think it is too safe these days.

"I'm pleased she got in because he has left a good legacy. I hope she continues it.

"He voted for his constituents and he cared about people."

Ken White, 70, says he is a "conservative with a small c" and says while he held Sir David in very high regard as a constituency MP, he did want to divulge whether he voted for him.

He did not, however, vote in Thursday's by-election.

"That is the first time, if I remember rightly, that I have not voted," he says.

"I am fed up with it all at the moment, particularly with Boris Johnson. We want somebody who is statesmanlike. He is definitely not that.

"The government is crumbling."

He says he believes the low turnout and the spoiled ballots, some of which are understood to have been directed at the prime minister, shows he is not alone in how he feels.

"There was nobody else to vote for," he says.

Southend resident Jason Barrel says the death of Sir David was a "very sad thing to have happened".

"I don't vote at all," the 51-year-old says. "I'm not interested in the election or anything like that."

The issues he would like the new MP to champion are local rather than national.

"Everyone is speeding, speeding, speeding," he says. "I think raising speed awareness would be a good thing.

"And there's rubbish everywhere. But apart from that I'm very happy."

Unlike Mr Barrel, Stephanie and Kevin Harding did vote in the by-election and believe the low turnout reflects the sense in Southend West that the Conservative candidate winning was a given.

"There was no real opposition," says Mrs Harding. "I think in a way it was a 'fait accompli'.

"And perhaps it should be really because at the last general election people voted Conservative, so until the next election it should remain Conservative."

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