2018 Colchester Borough Council election

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 seventeen wards. It was the first standard election to take place following comprehensive boundary changes in 2016. This set of seats were last up for election in 2016, with the third-placed elected candidates being up for election in 2018.

2018 Colchester Borough Council election

← 2016 3 May 2018 2019 →
17 out of 51 seats to Colchester Borough Council 26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	33.1%[1]
First party Second party   Leader Darius Laws Paul Smith Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Castle St. Anne's & St. John's (defeated) 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   Leader Tim Young Beverly Oxford Party Labour Independent Leader's seat Greenstead Highwoods 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
Leader of the council before election Paul Smith Liberal Democrats Leader of the council after election Mark Cory Liberal Democrats

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 Liberal Democrats, 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 Co-op	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	N/A
Turnout			2,038	27.2	−5.2
Registered electors			7,481
	Labour Co-op 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	N/A
Turnout			3,035	39.6	+2.4
Registered electors			7,655
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,095	24.4	−5.8
Registered electors			8,572
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,039	27.6	−5.6
Registered electors			7,335
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,738	37.8	−2.6
Registered electors			7,243
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,512	34.7	−1.1
Registered electors			7,239
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.5

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	N/A
Turnout			3,267	40.5	+1.0
Registered electors			8,075
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,402	30.9	−6.8
Registered electors			7,779
	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	N/A
Turnout			3,166	33.8	−0.1
Registered electors			9,364
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,480	30.8	−4.0
Registered electors			8,055
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.1

Prettygate

Prettygate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Buston*	1,820	61.0	+5.4
	Labour Co-op	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	N/A
Turnout			2,983	37.6	−3.0
Registered electors			7,942
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,942	34.6	−1.6
Registered electors			8,508
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,033	25.5	−3.3
Registered electors			7,979
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,781	34.2	−1.5
Registered electors			8,136
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,205	33.2	−3.0
Registered electors			6,648
	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	N/A
Turnout			2,138	29.4	−2.1
Registered electors			7,165
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Andrea Luxford-Vaughn	1,542	49.5	+21.2
	Labour Co-op	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	N/A
Turnout			3,118	39.8	−13.7
Registered electors			7,830
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Co-op		Swing	+6.5

No Independent candidate as previous (−13.6).