2018 Colchester Borough Council election

2018 Colchester Borough Council election

← 2016 3 May 2018 2019 →
17 seats (out of 51 seats) 26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	33.06%[1]
First party Second party   Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 22 seats, 37.5% 15 seats, 22.6% Seats before 23 14 Seats won 10 2 Seats after 25 12 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 17,780 8,770 Percentage 40.4 19.9 Swing 2.9 2.7   Third party Fourth party   Party Labour Independent Last election 11 seats, 22.2% 3 seats, 4.1% Seats before 11 3 Seats won 4 1 Seats after 11 3 Seat change Popular vote 11,131 3,130 Percentage 25.3 7.1 Swing 3.1 3.0
Map of Colchester Borough showing wards won

Elections to Colchester Borough Council took place on 3 May 2018. Seventeen members of the council (one-third of the whole) were elected, one from each of the 17 wards. It was the first standard election to take place following comprehensive boundary changes in 2016.

Results summary[]

The four main parties put up a full slate of candidates and Independents stood in eight wards.

Result[]

2018 Colchester Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	10	2	58.8	15	25	49.0	15,765	40.4	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	2	2	11.8	10	12	23.5	8,472	19.9	-2.7
	Labour	4		23.5	7	11	21.6	10,783	25.3	+3.1
	Independent	1		5.9	2	3	5.9	3,130	7.1	+3.0
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	2,880	7.0	-2.6

Composition[]

Prior to the election, the composition of the council was:

↓

14	11	3	23
Liberal Democrats	Labour	Ind	Conservative

After the election, the composition of the council was:

↓

12	11	3	25
Liberal Democrats	Labour	Ind	Conservative

New Administration[]

The Labour Party, and Independent groups reached a deal that would continue their coalition,^[2] with Cllr Mark Cory to replace the unseated Paul Smith as Leader of the Council.

Ward results[]

Berechurch[]

Berechurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martyn Warnes*	1,275	62.6	+0.5
	Conservative	Andrew Bright	510	25.0	+11.7
	Liberal Democrats	Mick Spindler	178	8.7	+2.1
	Green	Andy Brooke	75	3.7	-1.5
Majority			765	37.5	—
Turnout			2,038	27.3	-5.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.6

No UKIP candidate as previous (−12.8).

Castle[]

Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Crow	931	30.7	+2.2
	Green	Mark Goacher	920	30.3	+4.3
	Labour	Norma Dinnie-Weall	750	24.7	+8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Hayes	434	14.3	-15.1
Majority			11	0.4	—
Turnout			3,035	39.6	+2.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-1.1

Greenstead[]

Greenstead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tina Bourne*	1,078	51.5	+11.3
	Conservative	Fabian Green	502	24.0	+5.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Baker	245	11.7	-1.9
	Independent	Christopher Lee	203	9.7	+3.3
	Green	John Clifton	67	3.2	-3.6
Majority			576	27.5	—
Turnout			2,095	24.4	-5.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

No UKIP candidate as previous (−14.8)

Highwoods[]

Highwoods^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Phil Oxford*	926	45.4	+4.7
	Conservative	Stephen Rowe	563	27.6	+2.7
	Labour	Gary Braddy	314	15.4	+4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Turrell	161	7.9	-2.0
	Green	Robbie Spence	75	3.7	-1.3
Majority			363	18.2	—
Turnout			2,039	27.6	-5.6
	Independent hold		Swing	+1.0

No UKIP candidate as previous (−9.1).

Lexden & Braiswick[]

Lexden & Braiswick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brian Jarvis*	1,812	66.2	+8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Stevenson	407	14.9	-2.6
	Labour	John Challen	338	12.3	+0.9
	Green	Sue Bailey	181	6.6	-6.5
Majority			1,405	51.3	—
Turnout			2,738	37.8	-2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.4

Marks Tey & Layer[]

Marks Tey & Layer

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jackie Maclean*	1,493	71.2	+23.2
	Labour	John Spademan	275	13.1	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Hull	224	10.7	-0.8
	Green	Matt Stemp	106	5.1	-5.1
Majority			1,218	41.2	—
Turnout			2,512	34.7	-1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+

No UKIP candidate as previous (−17.6).

Mersea & Pyefleet[]

Mersea & Pyefleet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Davidson*	1,373	42.0	-3.8
	Independent	John Akker	1,202	36.8	New
	Green	Peter Banks	374	11.4	-1.4
	Labour	Barry Gilheany	219	6.7	-7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Gemma Graham	99	3.0	-2.6
Majority			171	5.2	–
Turnout			3,267	40.5	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-20.3

No UKIP candidate as previous (−21.4).

Mile End[]

Mile End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David King	1,179	49.1	-8.2
	Conservative	Thomas Rowe	728	30.3	+5.1
	Labour	Pauline Bacon	353	14.7	+4.3
	Green	Amanda Kirke	88	4.1	-3.0
	Independent	Jason Leonard	44	1.8	New
Majority			451	18.8	—
Turnout			2,402	30.9	-6.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-6.7

New Town & Christ Church[]

New Town & Christ Church

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lorcan Whitehead	1,319	41.7	+19.4
	Liberal Democrats	Catherine Spindler	816	25.8	-11.0
	Conservative	Annesley Hardy	780	24.6	+1.7
	Green	Bob Brannan	177	5.6	-12.3
	Independent	Edmund Chinnery	74	2.3	New
Majority			503	15.9	—
Turnout			3,166	33.8	-0.1
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+15.2

Old Heath & The Hythe[]

Old Heath & The Hythe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lee Scordis*	1,525	61.5	+20.7
	Conservative	Michael McDonnell	505	20.4	+4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Craven	228	9.2	-17.9
	Green	Andrew Canessa	129	5.2	-11.1
	Independent	Chris Hill	93	3.8	New
Majority			1,020	41.1	—
Turnout			2,480	30.8	-4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.1

Prettygate[]

Prettygate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Buston*	1,820	61.0	+5.4
	Labour	Mike Dale	592	19.8	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ed Hill	355	11.9	-5.9
	Green	Clare Palmer	216	7.2	-2.9
Majority			1,228	41.2	—
Turnout			2,983	37.6	-3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

Rural North[]

Rural North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Chillingworth*	2,015	68.5	+8.7
	Labour	Judith Short	348	11.8	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats	William Brown	298	10.1	-4.8
	Green	Roger Bamforth	281	9.6	-5.6
Majority			1,667	56.7	—
Turnout			2,942	34.6	-1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5

Shrub End[]

Shrub End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pauline Hazell*	777	38.2	+19.0
	Labour	Isobel Merry	622	30.6	+18.8
	Liberal Democrats	Sam McCarthy	507	24.9	-10.1
	Independent	Mike Clark	77	3.8	New
	Green	Wolfgang Fauser	50	2.5	-5.0
Majority			155	7.6	—
Turnout			2,033	25.5	-3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.1

No UKIP (−13.8) or Independent (−12.7) candidates as previous.

St. Anne's & St. John's[]

St. Anne's & St. John's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chris Hayter	1,206	43.4	+25.1
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Smith*	1,026	36.9	-9.1
	Labour	Gregory Edwards	346	12.4	+3.5
	Green	Megan Maltby	106	3.8	-2.4
	Independent	Kristine Lee	97	3.5	New
Majority			180	6.5	—
Turnout			2,781	34.2	-1.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+17.1

No UKIP candidate as previous (−20.6).

Stanway[]

Stanway^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Dundas	1,014	46.0	+5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jessica Scott-Boutell	874	39.6	-1.1
	Labour	Carole Spademan	230	10.4	-2.4
	Green	Katie Francis	87	3.9	-1.9
Majority			140	6.3	—
Turnout			2,205	33.2	-3.0
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+3.2

Tiptree[]

Tiptree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derek Loveland	1,423	66.6	-1.3
	Labour	Barbara Nichols	404	18.9	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Eriksson	197	9.2	New
	Green	Peter Lynn	114	5.3	-8.2
Majority			1,019	47.7	—
Turnout			2,138	29.4	-2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

Wivenhoe[]

Wivenhoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrea Luxford-Vaughn	1,542	49.5	+21.2
	Labour	Rosalind Scott*	1,143	36.7	+8.1
	Conservative	Liam Gallagher	328	10.5	-12.0
	Green	Claudia Uller	105	3.4	-3.5
Majority			399	12.8	—
Turnout			3,118	39.8	-13.7
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	+6.5

No Independent candidate as previous (−13.6).

References[]