2016 Colchester Borough Council election
5 May 2016 (2016-05-05)
All 51 seats to Colchester Borough Council
26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout36.0%
  First party Second party
  Blank Blank
Leader Darius Laws Paul Smith
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader's seat Castle St. Anne's &
St. John's
Seats before 27 20
Seats won 22 15
Seat change Decrease 5 Decrease 5
Popular vote 47,088 28,331
Percentage 37.5% 22.6%
  Third party Fourth party
  Blank Blank
Leader Tim Young Beverley Oxford
Party Labour Independent
Leader's seat Greenstead Highwoods
Seats before 9 3
Seats won 11 3
Seat change Increase 2 Steady
Popular vote 27,846 5,079
Percentage 22.2% 4.1%
Ward map showing the winning party in each seat.
Leader of the council before election

Paul Smith
Liberal Democrats

 Leader of the council after election

Paul Smith
Liberal Democrats

Elections to Colchester Borough Council took place on 5 May 2016. Colchester Borough Council normally elects one third of its councillors each year, however, due to boundary changes, the whole council is up for election.

Prior to this election, the cabinet (8 seats) was held by a coalition including the Liberal Democrats (5 seats), the Labour Party (2 seats) and a Highwoods & Stanway Independent (1 seat). Paul Smith (Liberal Democrat), a councillor from St. John's ward, was elected Leader of the Council by 32 to 28 votes.

Each voter had three available votes instead of the usual one vote.

Background

Following the 2015 election the Liberal Democrat-Labour-Independent coalition maintained control of the Council, although with a much reduced majority (14 to 4). The Liberal Democrats suffered heavy losses in North and West Colchester with 4 councillors being unseated, all by the Conservative Party. The Conservatives subsequently became the largest party on the Council but short of a majority by 4 councillors.

Although failing to win additional seats, the Labour Party made moderate gains in vote share across the Borough. Following a promising performance at the 2014 election, the UK Independence Party failed to build on their success and lost in vote share across Colchester, failing to take a single ward. Like UKIP, and despite a notable boost in local and national membership, the Green Party of England and Wales also fell in vote share and failed to win any seats. However, both UKIP and the Green Party received the highest number of votes for their respective parties in a Colchester local election.

Prior to the election, Independent member for Stanway, Laura Sykes, resigned her post as Borough Councillor due to moving away from the area. This left the ruling coalition with a majority of 3 over the Conservative group.

Boundary Changes

A boundary review was undertaken throughout 2014/2015 as part of a review of local authority electoral wards. The new electoral wards have taken effect from this election reducing the number of councillors by 9 (from 60 to 51), reducing the number of wards by 10 (from 27 to 17) and standardising the number of councillors representing each ward (3 councillors per ward). Each ward is designed to contain approximately 8,000 electors, taking into account the projected population growth over the next 10 years.[1]

Summary

Candidates by party

Conservative Party (51/51)





Labour Party (51/51)





Green Party (48/51)





Liberal Democrats (38/51)





UKIP (10/51)





Independent (8/51)





Results

2016 Colchester Borough Council election
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Conservative 22 Decrease 5 43.1 0 22 43.1 47,088 37.5 –2.6
  Liberal Democrats 15 Decrease 5 29.4 0 15 29.4 28,331 22.6 +2.8
  Labour 11 Increase 2 21.6 0 11 21.6 27,846 22.2 +3.8
  Independent 3 Steady 5.9 0 3 5.9 5,079 4.1 +1.7
  Green 0 Steady 0.0 0 0 0.0 12,046 9.7 +1.5
  UKIP 0 Steady 0.0 0 0 0.0 5,129 4.1 –7.0

The total number of seats on the council was reduced from 60 to 51 seats, resulting in a nominal loss of 5 Conservative and 4 Liberal Democrats councillors. This is reflected in the changes in seats.

Council Composition

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓
20 9 3 27
Liberal Democrats Labour Ind Conservative

After the election, the composition of the council was:

↓
15 11 3 22
Liberal Democrats Labour Ind Conservative

Ward Results

Due to boundary changes the number of wards was reduced from 27 to 17. Each ward is represented by 3 councillors. The length of an elected councillor's term will depend on the position of election within that ward (1st, 4 years; 2nd, 3 years; 3rd, 2 years). Terms will revert to 4-years as standard from the 2018 election.

The Statement of Nominated Persons was released by Colchester Borough Council's Returning Officer following the closing of nominations on 7 April 2016. This detailed the list of candidates nominated to stand in each ward.

The percentages shown in the tables are calculated by dividing the votes a candidate received by the total turnout, then multiplying by one-hundred.

Incumbent councillors are marked with an asterisk*

Berechurch

Berechurch ward
Berechurch
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour Dave Harris* 1,710 72.4
Labour Chris Pearson* 1,283 54.3
Labour Martyn Warnes 1,206 51.1
Conservative Annabel Glayzer 366 15.5
Conservative Michael Brown 359 15.2
Conservative Chris Brown 356 15.1
UKIP Ralph Morse 353 15.0
Liberal Democrats Katie Hood 181 7.7
Liberal Democrats George Penny 155 6.6
Liberal Democrats Jakub Makowski 144 6.1
Green Sam Borley 142 6.0
Turnout 2,363 32.4
Registered electors 7,287
Labour hold
Labour hold
Labour hold
Top-candidate result%+/-
Labour62.1+11.9
Conservative13.3-8.7
UKIP12.8-0.5
Liberal Democrat6.6-3.8
Green5.2+1.3

Castle

Castle ward
Castle
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Democrats Nick Barlow 881 31.7
Conservative Darius Laws* 854 30.7
Conservative Daniel Ellis 801 28.8
Liberal Democrats Bill Frame* 792 28.5
Green Mark Goacher 781 28.1
Liberal Democrats Jo Hayes* 769 27.7
Conservative Kate Martin 759 27.3
Green Amanda Kirke 511 18.4
Labour Isobel Merry 484 17.4
Labour Barry Gilheany 452 16.3
Green Charles Ham 451 16.2
Labour Jordan Newell 427 15.4
Turnout 2,778 37.4
Registered electors 7,436
Liberal Democrats hold
Conservative hold
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats
Top-candidate result%+/-
Liberal Democrat29.4+4.1
Conservative28.5-7.4
Green26.0+5.0
Labour16.1-1.6

Greenstead

Greenstead ward

Greenstead was created from the following wards:

  • St. Andrew's
  • St. Anne's
Greenstead
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour Julie Young* 1,144 50.2
Labour Tim Young* 1,134 49.8
Labour Tina Bourne* 999 43.8
Conservative Chris Hill 517 22.7
UKIP Jamie Middleditch 421 18.5
Liberal Democrats Owen Bartholomew 388 17.0
Conservative Paul Hanslow 341 15.0
Conservative Andrew Higginson 309 13.6
Liberal Democrats Josef Schumacher 288 12.6
Green Chris Flossman 193 8.5
Independent Christopher Lee 183 8.0
Green Poppy Gerrard-Abbott 115 5.0
Green Asa Bortherton 103 4.5
Turnout 2,280 30.3
Registered electors 7,522
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)
Top-candidate result
Labour
 
 40.2%
Conservative
 
 18.2%
UKIP
 
 14.8%
Liberal Democrat
 
 13.6%
Green Party
 
 6.8%
Independent
 
 6.4%

Highwoods

Highwoods ward
Highwoods
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Gerard Oxford* 1,126 48.0
Independent Bev Oxford* 1,038 44.2
Independent Phil Oxford* 954 40.6
Conservative Chris Hayter 690 29.4
Conservative James Child 588 25.0
Conservative Steph Hayward 522 22.2
Labour David McCulloch 287 12.2
Labour Gary Braddy 285 12.1
Labour Diane Stevens 283 12.1
Liberal Democrats John Baker 273 11.6
UKIP Alexei Knupffer 251 10.7
Green Robbie Spence 139 5.9
Green Bonnie Murphy 92 3.9
Green Leo Palmer 91 3.9
Turnout 2,385 33.4
Registered electors 7,132
Independent hold
Independent hold
Independent hold
Top-candidate result%+/-
Independent40.7+3.8
Conservative24.9-2.7
Labour10.4-0.7
Liberal Democrat9.9-0.9
UKIP9.1-0.1
Green5.0+0.7

Lexden & Braiswick

Lexden & Braiswick ward

Lexden & Braiswick was created from the following wards:

  • Lexden
  • West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green
  • Mile End
  • Great Tey
Lexden & Braiswick
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Dennis Willits* 1,712 59.3
Conservative Lewis Barber* 1,704 59.0
Conservative Brian Jarvis* 1,609 55.8
Liberal Democrats Thomas Stevenson 515 17.8
Liberal Democrats Gemma Graham 410 14.2
Green Steve Ford 386 13.4
Liberal Democrats Susan Waite 367 12.7
Labour Alison Inman 335 11.6
Labour Sioux Blair-Jordan 321 11.1
Labour Megan Saliu 284 9.8
Green Rosa Chandler 247 8.6
Green Emmanuel Blondel 219 7.6
Turnout 2,884 40.4
Registered electors 7,146
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Top-candidate result
Conservative
 
 58.1%
Liberal Democrat
 
 17.5%
Green Party
 
 13.1%
Labour
 
 11.4%

Marks Tey & Layer

Marks Tey & Layer ward

Marks Tey & Layer was created from the following wards:

  • Marks Tey
  • Birch & Winstree
  • Copford & West Stanway
Marks Tey & Layer
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Kevin Bentley* 1,424 59.4
Conservative Andrew Ellis* 1,248 52.1
Conservative Jackie Maclean* 1,135 47.4
UKIP John Pitts 523 21.8
Labour John Wood 379 15.8
Liberal Democrats Gillian Collings 340 14.2
Green Clare Palmer 302 12.6
Labour John Spademan 296 12.4
Labour Michael Wagstaff 231 9.6
Green Matt Stemp 206 8.6
Turnout 2,396 35.8
Registered electors 6,694
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Top-candidate result
Conservative
 
 48.0%
UKIP
 
 17.6%
Labour
 
 12.8%
Liberal Democrat
 
 11.5%
Green Party
 
 10.2%

Mersea & Pyefleet

Mersea & Pyefleet ward

Mersea & Pyefleet was created from the following wards:

  • West Mersea
  • Pyefleet
Mersea & Pyefleet
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative John Jowers* 1,643 51.7
Conservative Patricia Moore* 1,433 45.1
Conservative Robert Davidson* 1,392 43.8
UKIP David Broise 768 24.2
UKIP David Holmes 768 24.2
Labour Bry Mogridge 515 16.2
UKIP Maria Vigneau 507 16.0
Green Lisa Britton 459 14.5
Green Peter Banks 426 13.4
Labour Neil Belcher 301 9.5
Labour Ron Smith 269 8.5
Liberal Democrats Barry Woodward 202 6.4
Green Bartosz Mizgier 143 4.5
Turnout 3,175 39.5
Registered electors 8,036
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Top-candidate result%
Conservative45.8
UKIP21.4
Labour14.4
Green12.8
Liberal Democrat5.6

Mile End

Mile End ward
Mile End
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Democrats Martin Goss* 1,666 63.5
Liberal Democrats Phillip Coleman 1,375 52.4
Liberal Democrats Dominic Graham* 1,344 51.3
Conservative Ben Locker* 731 27.9
Conservative Stephen Rowe 543 20.7
Conservative Thomas Rowe 525 20.0
Labour Martin Camroux 302 11.5
Labour Beverly Pearce 258 9.8
Labour Elisa Vasquez-Walters 221 8.4
Green David Traynier 206 7.9
Green Mary Bryan 127 4.8
Green Peter Lynn 88 3.4
Turnout 2,623 37.7
Registered electors 6,966
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative
Liberal Democrats hold
Top-candidate result%+/-
Liberal Democrat57.3+25.1
Conservative25.2-13.2
Labour10.4-2.5
Green7.1+0.4

New Town & Christ Church

New Town & Christ Church ward

New Town & Christ Church was created from the following wards:

  • New Town
  • Christ Church
New Town & Christ Church
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Democrats Theresa Higgins* 1,140 39.3
Liberal Democrats Nick Cope* 1,113 38.4
Liberal Democrats Annie Feltham* 1,032 35.6
Labour Abigail Fuller 710 24.5
Conservative Annesley Hardy* 691 23.8
Conservative Simon Crow 666 23.0
Conservative Ben Payne 616 21.2
Labour Oladipo Odedengbe 563 19.4
Labour Jaki Whyte 559 19.3
Green Bob Brannan 555 19.1
Green Ruby Runnalls Palmer 346 11.9
Green Laurence Knight 317 10.9
Turnout 2,900 33.9
Registered electors 8,557
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Top-candidate result%
Liberal Democrat36.8
Conservative22.9
Labour22.3
Green17.9

Old Heath & The Hythe

Old Heath & The Hythe ward

Old Heath & The Hythe was created from the following wards:

  • Old Heath
  • New Town
  • East Donyland
Old Heath & The Hythe
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour Mike Lilley* 1,126 41.7
Labour Adam Fox 1,025 38.0
Labour Lee Scordis 925 34.3
Liberal Democrats Julia Havis* 747 27.7
Liberal Democrats Janet Knight 711 26.3
Liberal Democrats Justin Knight* 689 25.5
Green Susan Allen 451 16.7
Conservative Liam Gallagher 435 16.1
Conservative Richard Brown 403 14.9
Conservative Alan Scattergood 344 12.7
Green Jan Plummer 302 11.2
Green Andrew Canessa 258 9.6
Turnout 2,700 34.8
Registered electors 7,757
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)
Top-candidate result
Labour
 
 40.8%
Liberal Democrat
 
 27.1%
Green Party
 
 16.3%
Conservative
 
 15.8%

Prettygate

Prettygate ward
Prettygate
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Sue Lissimore* 2,024 62.7
Conservative Beverly Davis* 1,675 51.9
Conservative Roger Buston* 1,637 50.7
Liberal Democrats Jake Beavan 649 20.1
Labour Mike Dale 599 18.6
Liberal Democrats Glanville Williams 585 18.1
Labour Richard Bourne 563 17.4
Labour Clive Needle 379 11.7
Green Ruby Butler 369 11.4
Green Luke O'Loughlin 209 6.5
Green Mike Stewart 192 5.9
Turnout 3,228 40.6
Registered electors 7,948
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
Top-candidate result%+/-
Conservative55.6+4.5
Liberal Democrat17.8-3.9
Labour16.5+4.7
Green10.1+5.7

Rural North

Rural North ward

Rural North was created from the following wards:

  • Dedham & Langham
  • Fordham & Stour
  • Great Tey
  • West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green
Rural North
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Christopher Arnold* 1,913 63.1
Conservative Nigel Chapman* 1,824 60.2
Conservative Peter Chillingworth* 1,665 55.0
Green Roger Bamforth 488 16.1
Liberal Democrats Will Brown 478 15.8
Green Blake Roberts 367 12.1
Labour Kevin Finnigan 322 10.5
Labour Judith Short 319 9.2
Green Janita Le Fevre 282 9.3
Labour Paul Fryer-Kelsey 278 9.2
Turnout 3,031 36.2
Registered electors 8,363
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Conservative win (new seat)
Top-candidate results
Conservative
 
 59.8%
Green Party
 
 15.2%
Liberal Democrat
 
 14.9%
Labour
 
 10.1%

Shrub End

Shrub End ward
Shrub End
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Democrats Lyn Barton* 960 44.3
Liberal Democrats Karen Chaplin 569 26.3
Conservative Pauline Hazell* 526 24.3
Conservative Mike Hardy 510 23.6
Liberal Democrats Jamie Chaplin 508 23.5
Conservative Vic Flores 496 22.9
UKIP Bruno Hickman 379 17.5
Independent Sharron Lawrence 349 16.1
Labour Bruce Tuxford 324 15.0
Labour Steve Dunt 322 14.9
Labour Stuart Ellis 305 14.1
Green Wolfgang Fauser 206 9.5
Green Stuart Welham 143 6.6
Green Maria Harrison 92 4.2
Turnout 2,165 28.2
Registered electors 7,679
Liberal Democrats hold
Liberal Democrats hold
Conservative hold
Top-candidate result%+/-
Liberal Democrat35.0
+8.8
Conservative19.2
-15.2
UKIP13.8
-3.3
Independent12.7
N/A
Labour11.8
-4.9
Green7.5
+1.8

St. Anne's & St. John's

St. Anne's & St. John's ward

St. Anne's & St. John's was created from the following wards:

  • St. Anne's
  • St. John's
St. Anne's & St. John's
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Democrats Mike Hogg* 1,426 49.5
Liberal Democrats Helen Chuah* 1,352 46.9
Liberal Democrats Paul Smith* 1,215 42.1
UKIP Jason Berry 637 22.1
Conservative Charles McKay 568 19.7
UKIP Bill Faram 529 18.3
Conservative Peter Klejna-Wendt 511 17.7
Conservative Terry Sutton 465 16.1
Labour Sam Fuller 276 9.6
Labour Amanda Stannard 274 9.5
Labour Alex Yeandle 251 8.7
Green Callum Fauser 191 6.6
Green Robert Chambers 160 5.5
Green Megan Maltby 111 3.9
Turnout 2,886 35.7
Registered electors 8,077
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Top-candidate result
Liberal Democrat
 
 46.0%
UKIP
 
 20.6%
Conservative
 
 18.3%
Labour
 
 8.9%
Green Party
 
 6.2%

Stanway

Stanway ward
Stanway
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Fiona Maclean* 963 41.3
Liberal Democrats Lesley Scott-Boutell 962 41.3
Liberal Democrats Jessica Scott-Boutell* 944 40.5
Conservative Paul Dundas 839 36.0
Conservative Christopher Manby 792 34.0
Liberal Democrats Jon Manning* 629 27.0
Labour David Hough 302 13.0
Labour Carol Spademan 302 13.0
Labour Ian Yates 256 11.0
Green Walter Schwartz 137 5.9
Green Will Price 137 5.9
Green Nicholas Blondel 136 5.8
Turnout 2,331 36.2
Registered electors 6,440
Conservative hold
Liberal Democrats gain from Independent
Liberal Democrats hold
Party%+/-
Conservative40.7-1.7
Liberal Democrat40.7+3.7
Labour12.8-1.4
Green5.8-0.2

Tiptree

Tiptree ward
Tiptree
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative John Elliott* 1,459 64.9
Conservative Barbara Wood 1,403 62.4
Conservative Derek Loveland 1,370 61.0
Labour Joanne Devine 400 17.8
Labour Barbara Nichols 400 17.8
Labour Robert Spademan 371 16.6
Green Kathy Bamforth 291 13.0
Green Rob Cronshaw 196 8.7
Green Adam Abo Henriksen 165 7.3
Turnout 2,248 31.5
Registered electors 7,136
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
Conservative hold
Top-candidate result%+/-
Conservative67.9+25.1
Labour18.6+5.4
Green13.5+10.3

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe ward

Wivenhoe was created from the following wards:

  • Wivenhoe Cross
  • Wivenhoe Quay
Wivenhoe
Party Candidate Votes %
Labour Co-op Cyril Liddy* 1,154 36.2
Liberal Democrats Mark Cory* 1,141 35.8
Labour Co-op Rosalind Scott* 1,137 35.7
Labour Co-op Phil Finn 998 31.3
Conservative Peter Hill 906 28.4
Liberal Democrats Sanchia Nash 892 28.0
Independent Andrea Luxford Vaughan 549 17.2
Liberal Democrats Alex Hale 499 15.7
Independent Mike Newton 464 14.6
Conservative Craig Stuart 447 14.0
Independent Shaun Boughton 416 13.1
Conservative Roman Perrior 379 11.9
Green Tim Glover 278 8.7
Green Laura Pountney 123 3.9
Green Lora Aziz 113 3.5
Turnout 3,183 53.3
Registered electors 5,975
Labour Co-op win (new seat)
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Labour Co-op win (new seat)
Top-candidate result
Labour
 
 28.6%
Liberal Democrat
 
 28.3%
Conservative
 
 22.5%
Independent
 
 13.6%
Green Party
 
 6.9%

By-elections

Shrub End

A by-election was called in Shrub End following the resignation of Cllr Karen Chaplin (Liberal Democrat). The seat was gained by the Conservatives in the subsequent by-election.

Shrub End: 7 September 2017
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Vic Flores 681 38.6 +19.4
Labour Mike Dale 572 32.4 +20.5
Liberal Democrats Sam McCarthy 373 21.1 -13.9
Independent Mike Clark 54 3.1 N/A
UKIP Bruno Hickman 52 2.9 -10.9
Green Victoria Weaver 34 1.9 -5.6
Majority 109 6.2 N/A
Turnout 1,765 21.7 -6.5
Registered electors 8,119
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing Decrease0.6

References

  1. ↑ "Local Boundary Commission for England". www.lgbce.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
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