Thurrock

He won the seat of South Basildon and East Thurrock in the July 2024 general election, beating Labour by just 98 votes.

Chief whip Lee Anderson said McMurdock, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, "removed the party whip from himself" pending an investigation into allegations since published by the Sunday Times.

Local government minister Jim McMahon wrote to the council leader saying "improvements to date remain fragile" and that there were still "substantial areas in which Thurrock Council still needs to improve".

Lynn Worrall, who became leader of Thurrock Council last month, said: "A lot has been done, but we have much, much more to do."

The commissioners said there had been areas of improvement since Thurrock was placed in special measures in 2022.