1998 Colchester Borough Council election

Elections to Colchester Borough Council took place on 7 May 1998. This was on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom.

1998 Colchester Borough Council election

7 May 1998 (1998-05-07)
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	30.7% (7.4%)
First party Second party   Party Liberal Democrats Labour Last election 32 seats, 39.9% 16 seats, 34.2% Seats before 31 16 Seats won 8 5 Seats after 27 18 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 11,266 10,327 Percentage 34.7% 31.8% Swing 5.2% 2.4%   Third party Fourth party   Party Conservative Tiptree Residents Last election 11 seats, 22.5% 1 seat, 2.9% Seats before 12 1 Seats won 7 0 Seats after 14 1 Seat change 2 Popular vote 10,860 0 Percentage 33.5% 0.0% Swing 11.0% 2.9%
Winner of each seat at the 1998 Colchester Borough Council election
Council control before election Liberal Democrats Council control after election No overall control

At the election, the Liberal Democrats lost control of the council to no overall control, with gains being made by both Labour and the Conservatives.

Summary

1998 Colchester Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	8	4	40.0	19	27	45.0	11,266	34.7	–5.2
	Labour	5	2	25.0	13	18	30.0	10,327	31.8	–2.4
	Conservative	7	2	35.0	7	14	23.3	10,860	33.5	+11.0
	Tiptree Residents	0		0.0	1	1	1.7	0	0.0	–2.9

Ward results

Berechurch

Berechurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Cooke	971	49.0	+6.4
	Liberal Democrats	W. Sutton*	771	38.9	−11.2
	Conservative	J. Dinglemans	239	12.1	+4.8
Majority			200	10.1	N/A
Turnout			1,981	34.1	−9.1
Registered electors			5,823
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	8.8

Birch Messing Copford

Birch Messing Copford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Crowe*	555	65.8	+15.1
	Labour	T. Rogers	197	23.4	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	D. Paton	91	10.8	−16.7
Majority			358	42.5	+19.3
Turnout			843	33.2	−14.0
Registered electors			2,544
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.8

Castle

Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Hall*	907	44.5	−1.1
	Labour	Chris Pearson	585	28.7	−9.2
	Conservative	N. Stock	514	25.2	+9.7
	Natural Law	Loretta Basker	32	1.6	+0.7
Majority			322	15.8	+8.1
Turnout			2,038	34.0	−7.6
Registered electors			6,012
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.1

Harbour

Harbour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Blandon*	800	43.8	−9.2
	Labour	David Canning	761	41.7	+2.3
	Conservative	Sandra Rae	264	14.5	+6.9
Majority			39	2.1	−11.5
Turnout			1,825	29.1	−8.7
Registered electors			6,283
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	5.8

Lexden

Lexden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Walford	1,030	50.4	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Una Jones	802	39.3	−1.9
	Labour	Stella Creasy	210	10.3	+1.1
Majority			228	11.2	+4.0
Turnout			2,042	46.5	−6.0
Registered electors			4,387
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	2.0

No Independent Conservative candidate as previous (1.3%).

Mile End

Mile End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Goatley*	913	36.2	+6.1
	Conservative	N. Taylor	844	33.5	+2.9
	Labour	J. Thomas	766	30.4	−6.6
Majority			69	2.7	N/A
Turnout			2,523	25.5	−7.7
Registered electors			9,916
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	1.6

New Town

New Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Russell	997	62.6	−0.1
	Labour	Jean Quinn	429	26.9	−3.7
	Conservative	A. Allen	166	10.4	+3.7
Majority			568	35.7	+3.7
Turnout			1,592	30.2	−6.6
Registered electors			5,273
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	1.8

Prettygate

Prettygate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Girdlestone	838	40.7	+15.2
	Liberal Democrats	David Goss*	795	38.6	−9.7
	Labour	P. Creasy	426	20.7	−5.4
Majority			43	2.1	N/A
Turnout			2,059	34.6	−6.0
Registered electors			5,951
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	12.5

Pyefleet

Pyefleet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Davidson	573	66.7	+20.1
	Liberal Democrats	R. Watkins	146	17.0	−22.9
	Labour	John Coombes	140	16.3	+4.4
Majority			427	49.7	+43.0
Turnout			859	42.2	−10.0
Registered electors			2,026
	Conservative hold		Swing	21.5

No Green candidate as previous (3.5%).

Shrub End

Shrub End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	W. Sandford*	452	40.4	−9.4
	Labour	R. Pryor	436	38.9	+0.5
	Conservative	A. Yalland	232	20.7	+8.9
Majority			16	1.4	−10.1
Turnout			1,120	21.7	−7.0
Registered electors			5,175
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	5.0

St. Andrew's

St. Andrew's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julie Young	688	58.4	−2.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Gray	375	31.8	+1.3
	Conservative	Richard Lamberth	116	9.8	+1.2
Majority			313	26.5	−4.0
Turnout			1,179	21.7	−1.9
Registered electors			5,432
	Labour hold		Swing	2.0

St. Anne's

St. Anne's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Fairbrother	967	50.1	−0.6
	Liberal Democrats	K. Hindle	745	38.6	−3.6
	Conservative	M. Girdlestone	220	11.4	+4.3
Majority			222	11.5	N/A
Turnout			1,932	34.1	−6.0
Registered electors			5,669
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	1.5

St. John's

St. John's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Chuah	813	44.8	−15.0
	Conservative	D. Smith	661	36.4	+12.1
	Labour	Dave Harris	340	18.7	+2.8
Majority			152	8.4	−27.1
Turnout			1,814	32.1	−6.8
Registered electors			5,656
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	13.6

St. Mary's

St. Mary's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Cope*	754	41.9	−3.9
	Conservative	S. Candy	681	37.8	+4.4
	Labour	P. McGilvray	366	20.3	−0.5
Majority			73	4.1	−8.2
Turnout			1,801	33.0	−10.2
Registered electors			5,453
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.2

Stanway

Stanway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gwendoline Illot	752	40.7	−13.2
	Conservative	Ian McCord	651	35.3	+15.4
	Labour	Ian Yates	443	24.0	−2.2
Majority			101	5.5	−22.2
Turnout			1,846	30.5	−3.9
Registered electors			6,074
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	14.3

Tiptree

Tiptree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Dale	913	60.0	+18.0
	Conservative	Elizabeth Blundell	410	26.9	+17.1
	Liberal Democrats	A. Seaman	199	13.1	N/A
Majority			503	33.0	N/A
Turnout			1,522	24.3	−12.5
Registered electors			6,263
	Labour hold		Swing	0.5

No Tiptree Residents candidate as previous (48.2%).

West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green

West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Chapman	655	49.9	+18.3
	Liberal Democrats	R. Tyrrell	481	36.7	−11.9
	Labour	David Jones	176	13.4	−6.4
Majority			174	13.3	N/A
Turnout			1,312	33.5	−12.5
Registered electors			3,932
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	15.1

West Mersea

West Mersea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Kimberley*	910	60.6	+5.7
	Labour	Alan Mogridge	361	24.0	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	B. Harrison	231	15.4	−7.7
Majority			549	36.6	+4.8
Turnout			1,502	25.9	−9.6
Registered electors			5,806
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.9

Winstree

Winstree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Fairhead*	674	80.0	+16.7
	Labour	Luke Dopson	96	11.4	+3.2
	Liberal Democrats	P. Gentry	73	8.7	−18.7
Majority			578	68.6	+31.7
Turnout			843	44.2	−15.4
Registered electors			1,909
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.8

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Richardson*	1,056	57.0	−1.8
	Conservative	David Adams	627	33.9	+6.1
	Liberal Democrats	L. Warren	169	9.1	−5.3
Majority			429	23.2	−7.8
Turnout			1,852	25.7	−8.4
Registered electors			7,223
	Labour hold		Swing	4.0

By-elections

Tiptree

Tiptree: 25 June 1998

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		624	46.0	−14.0
	Tiptree Residents		399	29.4	N/A
	Conservative		333	24.6	−2.3
Majority			291	16.6	−16.4
Turnout			1,356	21.7	−2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

No Liberal Democrat candidate as previous (13.1%).