2006 Colchester Borough Council election

The 2006 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

2006 Colchester Borough Council election

← 2004 4 May 2006 (2006-05-04) 2007 →
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	36.4% (2.4%)
First party Second party   Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 28 seats, 40.9% 23 seats, 34.2% Seats before 28 22 Seats won 10 6 Seats after 30 21 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 13,951 12,119 Percentage 38.9% 33.8% Swing 2.0% 0.4%   Third party Fourth party   Party Labour Independent Last election 6 seats, 18.2% 3 seats, 6.7% Seats before 7 3 Seats won 1 1 Seats after 7 2 Seat change 1 Popular vote 4,754 1,986 Percentage 13.3% 5.5% Swing 4.9% 1.2%
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control

Map of the results of the 2006 Colchester council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow, Labour in red and independents in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2006.

After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 30
• Liberal Democrats 21
• Labour 7
• Independent 2^[2]

Background

Before the election the Conservatives had run the council since the 2004 election and had 28 of the 60 seats on the council.^[3] The Liberal Democrats had 22 seats, Labour had 7 seats and there were 3 independents.^[3]

20 seats were contested at the election, with the councillors who were defending seats including the Conservative leader of the council, John Jowers, the mayor Terry Sutton and the Liberal Democrat group leader, Colin Sykes.^[3] However the Conservatives did not have a candidate in New Town ward due to an error on their candidate's nomination papers.^[4] As well as the parties who were defending seats on the council, the Green Party contested every seat for the first time and particularly targeted Castle ward.^[3] Independents who stood included Gerard Oxford in Highwoods ward, who was defending a seat he had won as a Liberal Democrat before leaving the party.^[3]

Issues

A major issue at the election was the relocation of the bus station to a temporary site, while a new bus station was being built at a new shopping centre.^[3] Meanwhile, a Visual Arts Facility (VAF) was being built on the old bus station site.^[3] 6 independents stood at the election as part of a Save Our Bus Station Campaign opposing the move, with the Labour party also opposing the building of the VAF on the old bus station site.^[3] However the Conservatives said the temporary bus station site would be better than the old site.^[3]

Both the Liberal Democrats and Greens called for more recycling, while the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties called for action on street cleaning.^[3] The Conservatives meanwhile defending their record in power, pointing to a number of new projects being started including a planned new community stadium.^[3]

Election result

The Conservatives made a net gain of 2 seats to have half of the seats on the council with 30 councillors, just falling short of winning a majority.^[5] Conservative gains included defeating the Liberal Democrat group leader Colin Sykes, with the Liberal Democrats falling to 21 seats.^[5] Labour remained on 7 seats after holding the only seat they had been defending, but polled less than the Greens in a number of wards.^[5] Overall turnout at the election was 36.4%.^[6]

2006 Colchester Borough Council election[1][6]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	10	2	50.0	20	30	50.0	13,951	38.9	–2.0
	Liberal Democrats	8	1	40.0	13	21	36.7	12,119	33.8	–0.4
	Labour	1		5.0	6	7	10.0	4,754	13.3	–4.9
	Independent	1	1	5.0	1	2	3.3	1,986	5.5	–1.2
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	3,061	8.5	N/A

Ward results

Berechurch

Berechurch^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Terence Sutton*	767	42.2	−3.5
	Labour	John Cooke	587	32.3	+1.8
	Conservative	Pauline Hazell	328	18.1	−5.7
	Green	Charles Bather	134	7.4	N/A
Majority			180	9.9	−5.4
Turnout			1,816	34.0	+5.2
Registered electors			5,367
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.7

Birch & Winstree

Birch & Winstree^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Kevin Bentley	1,224	66.6	−5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Longman	325	17.7	+3.6
	Labour	Abigail Tootal	128	7.0	−6.6
	Green	Samuel Elliott	108	5.9	N/A
	Independent	Jeannine McAndrew	53	2.9	N/A
Majority			899	48.9	−8.8
Turnout			1,838	42.1	+11.1
Registered electors			4,357
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.4

Castle

Castle^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Hall*	1,122	48.7	−9.2
	Green	Peter Lynn	522	22.6	N/A
	Conservative	Benjamin Twitchen	418	18.1	−9.6
	Labour	Mark Warner	187	8.1	−6.4
	Independent	Stephen Miller	57	2.5	N/A
Majority			600	26.0	−4.2
Turnout			2,306	41.5	+6.1
Registered electors			5,574
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	N/A

Christ Church

Christ Church^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Cope*	615	43.7	−4.3
	Conservative	Andrew Bright	468	33.3	−9.3
	Green	Alexander Cave	245	17.4	N/A
	Labour	David Hough	79	5.6	−3.4
Majority			147	10.4	+10.0
Turnout			1,407	48.3	+4.9
Registered electors			2,926
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.5

Fordham & Stour

Fordham & Stour^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Christopher Arnold*	942	66.6	−5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Barry Woodward	176	12.4	−2.1
	Labour	Christopher Aldous	119	8.4	−4.6
	Green	Clarice Mort	114	8.1	N/A
	Independent	Jack Pooley	63	4.5	N/A
Majority			766	54.2	−3.2
Turnout			1,414	36.7	+9.1
Registered electors			3,890
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.6

Harbour

Harbour^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Blandon*	762	63.8	+12.6
	Conservative	Anne Allan	216	18.1	−7.1
	Labour	Rossanna Trudgian	139	11.6	−12.1
	Green	Timothy Glover	77	6.4	N/A
Majority			546	45.7	+19.7
Turnout			1,194	29.7	+2.5
Registered electors			4,035
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	9.9

Highwoods

Highwoods^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gerard Oxford*	1,147	58.2	+15.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Offen	299	15.2	−11.5
	Conservative	Susan Harper	293	14.9	−7.4
	Labour	Julia Thomas	148	7.5	−1.1
	Green	Keith Brooke	84	4.3	N/A
Majority			848	43.0	+27.2
Turnout			1,971	32.6	+2.3
Registered electors			6,067
	Independent hold		Swing	13.8

Lexden

Lexden^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sonia Lewis*	1,282	65.8	+3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gwendoline Ilott	385	19.8	−9.9
	Green	Peter Appleton	105	5.4	N/A
	Labour	Luke Dopson	103	5.3	−2.7
	Independent	Susan Francis	73	3.7	N/A
Majority			897	46.0	+13.4
Turnout			1,948	47.1	+2.4
Registered electors			4,144
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.7

Mile End

Mile End^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nicholas Taylor*	939	46.2	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Turrell	791	38.9	−3.8
	Green	Mary Bryan	130	6.4	N/A
	Labour	Janet Smith	125	6.2	−5.0
	Independent	Edmund Chinnery	46	2.3	N/A
Majority			148	7.3	+3.9
Turnout			2,031	38.5	+10.2
Registered electors			5,300
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.0

New Town

New Town^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Theresa Higgins*	1,029	65.4	+10.1
	Green	Maria Iacovou	339	21.5	N/A
	Labour	Scott Harris	206	13.1	−4.1
Majority			690	43.8	+16.0
Turnout			1,574	28.8	+0.6
Registered electors			5,531
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	N/A

No Conservative candidate as previous (27.5%).

Prettygate

Prettygate^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sue Lissimore	1,368	53.6	+4.6
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Sheppard*	885	34.7	−8.5
	Labour	Mike Dale	186	7.3	−0.5
	Green	Beverley Maltby	115	4.5	N/A
Majority			483	18.9	+13.2
Turnout			2,554	43.7	−1.1
Registered electors			5,858
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	6.6

Pyefleet

Pyefleet^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Davidson*	532	61.4	−5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Carolyn Catney	108	12.5	−20.6
	Independent	Tim Oxton	100	11.5	N/A
	Green	Tobie Glenny	67	7.7	N/A
	Labour	Barbara Nichols	60	6.9	+6.9
Majority			424	48.9	+15.0
Turnout			867	42.4	−0.6
Registered electors			2,052
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.8

St Andrew's

St Andrew's^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julie Young*	922	53.4	+0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Simpson	504	29.2	+4.9
	Conservative	Alexander Wilson	215	12.4	−10.5
	Green	Sophie Lovejoy	87	5.0	N/A
Majority			418	24.2	−4.4
Turnout			1,728	28.2	+5.9
Registered electors			6,171
	Labour hold		Swing	2.2

St. Anne's

St. Anne's^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Hogg*	1,071	51.8	−2.9
	Labour	Kim Naish	546	26.4	+6.6
	Conservative	Shahid Husain	284	13.7	−11.8
	Green	Lucy Glover	166	8.0	N/A
Majority			525	25.4	−3.9
Turnout			2,067	32.7	+4.4
Registered electors			6,355
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.8

St John's

St. John's^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ray Gamble*	1,105	61.8	+6.4
	Conservative	Simon Lucas	523	29.2	−5.8
	Labour	Hugh Thomas	82	4.6	−4.9
	Green	Annick Collins-Leyssen	79	4.4	N/A
Majority			582	32.5	+12.1
Turnout			1,789	43.4	+3.2
Registered electors			4,135
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	6.1

Shrub End

Shrub End^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lyn Barton	793	42.0	+5.6
	Conservative	Winifred Foster*	637	33.7	−4.7
	Labour	David Canning	370	19.6	−5.7
	Green	Walter Schwarz	90	4.8	N/A
Majority			156	8.3	N/A
Turnout			1,890	32.8	−1.2
Registered electors			5,765
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	5.2

Stanway

Stanway^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gaye Pyman	1,000	44.0	−3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Sykes*	956	42.0	+3.0
	Labour	John Spademan	193	8.5	−4.7
	Green	Pamela Nelson	125	5.5	N/A
Majority			44	1.9	−6.8
Turnout			2,274	38.2	+2.9
Registered electors			5,959
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	3.4

Tiptree

Tiptree^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Elliott	974	54.4	+13.4
	Independent	Helen Bunney	271	15.1	N/A
	Labour	Audrey Spencer	261	14.6	−11.6
	Liberal Democrats	John Stevens	173	9.7	N/A
	Green	Katherine Bamforth	110	6.1	N/A
Majority			703	39.3	+31.1
Turnout			1,789	30.4	−7.5
Registered electors			5,901
	Conservative gain from Independent		Swing	N/A

West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green

West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Dennis Willetts	919	63.6	−2.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Stevens	253	17.5	−2.9
	Green	Roger Bamforth	158	10.9	N/A
	Labour	Ian Yates	114	7.9	−4.9
Majority			666	46.1	+0.1
Turnout			1,444	38.2	+7.9
Registered electors			3,812
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.1

West Mersea

West Mersea^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Jowers*	1,389	70.5	−0.5
	Green	Christopher Fox	206	10.5	N/A
	Labour	James Spencer	199	10.1	−4.7
	Independent	John Coombes	176	8.9	N/A
Majority			1,183	60.1	+3.9
Turnout			1,970	34.8	−3.8
Registered electors			5,678
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

No Liberal Democrat candidate as previous (14.2%).