2024 Colchester City Council election

The 2024 Colchester City Council election took place on 2 May 2024 alongside other local elections across England.[1] Eighteen members of the council were elected, one from each of the wards, with an additional by-election in Greenstead ward.[2][3]

2024 Colchester City Council election

← 2023 2 May 2024 (2024-05-02) 2026 →

18 out of 51 seats to Colchester City Council
26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout29.9% (Decrease1.1%)
  First party Second party
  Blank Blank
Leader Paul Dundas Martin Goss
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats
Last election 19 seats, 30.5% 15 seats, 30.3%
Seats before 19 16
Seats won 7 4
Seats after 19 15
Seat change Steady Decrease 1
Popular vote 13,080 9,972
Percentage 30.0% 22.9%
Swing Decrease 0.5% Decrease 7.4%

  Third party Fourth party
  Blank Blank
Leader Julie Young Mark Goacher
Party Labour Green
Last election 15 seats, 24.5% 2 seats, 10.2%
Seats before 13 2
Seats won 6 1
Seats after 14 3
Seat change Steady Increase 1
Popular vote 14,180 4,447
Percentage 32.5% 10.2%
Swing Increase 8.0% Steady 0.0%

Winner of each seat at the 2024 Colchester City Council election

Leader before election

David King
Liberal Democrats
No overall control

Leader after election

David King
Liberal Democrats
No overall control

The council was under no overall control prior to the election. The Conservatives were the largest party, but the council was being run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration with informal support from Labour and the Green Party. Only two seats changed party at the election, and after the election the Liberal Democrats continued to form a minority administration, with Labour and the Greens lending their support on a case-by-case basis.[4]

Background

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This set of seats were last up for election at the 2021 election. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council election (then Borough) scheduled for 2020 was postponed one year to 2021. This resulted in the terms of councillors elected at the 2021 election being truncated to 3-years rather than the usual 4-years.

In addition to the seventeen regular members up for election, there will be a by-election in Greenstead ward due to the resignation of Cllr Molly Bloomfield.

Pre-Election Composition
19
16
14
2
Party Seats
Conservative Party 19
Liberal Democrats 16
Labour Party 14
Green Party 2

Summary

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Overview

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At the election, Labour made a significant advance in vote share, coming first in the popular vote (for the first time since the inaugural 1973 election) and winning the marginal ward of Shrub End from the Liberal Democrats, and making large gains in vote share across the city. In contrast, the Liberal Democrats lost a large portion of their vote when compared to the 2023 election, failing to win their top targets of Stanway and Prettygate; they did, however, retain the marginal seat of Highwoods against Labour.

For the Conservativates, it was another disappointing result, losing the popular vote to Labour and seeing their vote share decline or stagnate in key wards such as Castle and Highwoods. They did, however, retain their seat in Stanway against a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrats. The Green Party remained static in the popular vote, but managed to unseat their former leader (who defected to Labour in 2022) in Castle ward, bringing their total number of seats to 3.

Candidates by party

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Conservative Party (18/18)





Labour Party (18/18)





Green Party (18/18)





Liberal Democrats (17/18)





Independent (3/18)





Reform UK (2/18)





Election result

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2024 Colchester City Council election
Party This election Full council This election
Seats Net Seats % Other Total Total % Votes Votes % +/−
  Conservative 7   38.9 12 19 37.3 13,080 30.0 –0.5
  Liberal Democrats 4   1 22.2 11 15 29.4 9,972 22.9 –7.4
  Labour 6   33.3 8 14 27.5 14,180 32.5 +8.0
  Green 1   1 5.6 2 3 5.9 4,447 10.2 ±0.0
  Independent 0   0.0 0 0 0.0 1,158 2.7 –0.5
  Reform UK 0   0.0 0 0 0.0 766 1.8 +0.5

Incumbents

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Ward Incumbent Councillor Party Re-standing
Berechurch Dave Harris Labour Co-op Yes
Castle Steph Nissen[a] Labour Yes
Greenstead Julie Young Labour Co-op Yes
Highwoods Simon Appleton[b] Liberal Democrats Yes
Lexden & Braiswick Dennis Willetts Conservative Yes
Marks Tey & Layer Kevin Bentley Conservative Yes
Mersea & Pyefleet John Jowers Conservative No
Mile End Martin Goss Liberal Democrats Yes
New Town & Christ Church Pam Cox Labour Yes
Old Heath & The Hythe Mike Lilley Labour Co-op Yes
Prettygate Sue Lissimore Conservative Yes
Rural North Darius Laws Conservative Yes
Shrub End Lyn Barton Liberal Democrats No
St. Anne's & St. John's Mike Hogg Liberal Democrats No
Stanway Jeremy Hagon Conservative Yes
Tiptree Roger Mannion Conservative Yes
Wivenhoe Michelle Burrows Liberal Democrats No

Ward results

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The Statement of Persons Nominated details the candidates standing in each ward. It was released on 5 April 2023 following the close of nominations.[5] Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*).

Berechurch

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Berechurch ward
Berechurch
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Dave Harris* 1,536 79.5 +13.4
Conservative Bevan Waghorn 207 10.7 –4.9
Liberal Democrats Karen Chaplin 96 5.0 –4.2
Green John Clifton 94 4.9 –0.4
Majority 1,329 68.8 +18.3
Turnout 1,933 26.5 +1.1
Registered electors 7,309
Labour Co-op hold Swing  9.2

Castle

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Castle ward
Castle
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Kemal Çufoğlu 1,247 44.5 –5.9
Labour Steph Nissen* 826 29.4 +11.4
Conservative Ryan Smith 523 18.6 –5.4
Liberal Democrats Martin Gillingham 209 7.5 –0.1
Majority 421 15.1 –11.3
Turnout 2,805 33.7 +0.3
Registered electors 8,329
Green gain from Labour Swing  8.7

Greenstead

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Greenstead ward
Greenstead (2 seats due to by-election)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Julie Young* 1,159 63.5 +4.2
Labour Elizabeth Alake-Akinyemi 1,150 63.0 +3.7
Conservative Rowan Knight 358 19.6 +0.9
Conservative Ronnie Achille 335 18.4 –0.3
Green Lisa Cross 258 14.1 +7.6
Liberal Democrats Jenny Stevens 225 12.3 +1.8
Green Zac Roulston 165 9.0 +2.5
Turnout 1,825 17.6 +0.6
Registered electors 10,350
Labour Co-op hold
Labour hold

Highwoods

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Highwoods ward
Highwoods
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Simon Appleton* 947 45.0 –1.5
Labour Gary Braddy 717 34.1 +1.4
Conservative Christopher Hayter 345 16.4 –0.6
Green Antony Greenwood 96 4.6 +0.8
Majority 230 10.9 –2.9
Turnout 2,105 28.7 –1.5
Registered electors 7,325
Liberal Democrats hold Swing  1.5

Lexden & Braiswick

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Lexden & Braiswick ward
Lexden & Braiswick
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Dennis Willetts 1,420 55.6 –2.5
Labour Sandy Armitage 556 21.8 +7.7
Liberal Democrats Thomas Stevenson 331 13.0 –5.2
Green Roger Bamforth 248 9.7 +0.1
Majority 864 33.8 –6.1
Turnout 2,555 34.4 –2.4
Registered electors 7,428
Conservative hold Swing  5.1

Marks Tey & Layer

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Marks Tey & Layer ward
Marks Tey & Layer
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Kevin Bentley* 1,176 53.2 –1.6
Labour John Spademan 573 25.9 +4.3
Green Amy Sheridan 246 11.1 –0.7
Liberal Democrats Mark Hull 214 9.7 –2.2
Majority 603 27.3 –5.9
Turnout 2,209 26.6 –2.7
Registered electors 8,297
Conservative hold Swing  3.0

Mersea & Pyefleet

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Mersea & Pyefleet ward
Mersea & Pyefleet
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Martin Parsons 1,081 36.5 –3.6
Independent John Akker 928 31.2 –0.8
Reform UK Sophie Preston-Hall 355 12.0 +5.8
Labour Natalie Eldred 336 11.3 +1.4
Green Libby Kirkby-Taylor 124 4.8 –0.5
Liberal Democrats John Knight 124 4.2 –2.3
Majority 153 5.3 +2.8
Turnout 2,962 37.0 –1.9
Registered electors 8,013
Conservative hold Swing  1.6

Mile End

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Mile End ward
Mile End
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Martin Goss* 1,889 68.2 +7.0
Labour Co-op Pauline Bacon 445 16.1 +2.8
Conservative Phoebe Butcher 307 11.1 –5.3
Green Amanda Kirke 129 4.7 –4.5
Majority 1,444 52.1 +7.3
Turnout 2,770 28.1 +0.5
Registered electors 9,873
Liberal Democrats hold Swing  2.1

New Town & Christ Church

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New Town & Christ Church ward
New Town & Christ Church
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Pam Cox* 1,639 57.3 +15.4
Conservative Christopher Piggott 468 16.4 +3.5
Liberal Democrats Alan Mathias 350 12.2 –19.7
Green Sara Ruth 275 9.6 +2.9
Independent Ian Partridge 128 4.5 –2.2
Majority 1,171 40.9 +30.9
Turnout 2,860 29.6 –2.6
Registered electors 9,675
Labour hold Swing  6.0

Old Heath & The Hythe

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Old Heath & The Hythe ward
Old Heath & The Hythe
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Mike Lilley* 1,291 58.9 –0.4
Conservative Richard Martin 359 16.4 +0.7
Green Andrew Canessa 299 13.6 +5.8
Liberal Democrats Jakub Makowski 137 6.3 –3.9
Independent Jeffrey Drew 106 4.8 –2.3
Majority 932 42.5 –1.1
Turnout 2,192 25.5 –1.3
Registered electors 8,591
Labour Co-op hold Swing  0.6

Prettygate

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Prettygate ward
Prettygate
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sue Lissimore* 1,642 50.7 +8.7
Liberal Democrats John Loxley 1,036 32.0 –9.3
Labour Chris Coates 420 13.0 +1.2
Green Natalie Edgoose 140 4.3 –0.6
Majority 606 18.7 +18.0
Turnout 3,238 41.7 +1.8
Registered electors 7,765
Conservative hold Swing  9.0

Rural North

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Rural North ward
Rural North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Darius Laws* 1,618 57.5 +1.6
Labour Barbara Nichols 513 18.2 +4.3
Liberal Democrats Karen Maxwell 349 12.4 –4.1
Green John Burgess 333 11.8 –1.9
Majority 1,105 39.3 –0.1
Turnout 2,813 32.7 –1.7
Registered electors 8,594
Conservative hold Swing  1.4

Shrub End

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Shrub End ward
Shrub End
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Claire Osborne 792 37.9 +4.0
Liberal Democrats Mark Arnold 625 29.9 –9.4
Conservative Angela Linghorn-Baker 541 25.9 +4.5
Green Bob Brannan 131 6.3 +0.8
Majority 167 8.0 N/A
Turnout 2,089 25.2 –0.8
Registered electors 8,288
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing  6.7

St. Anne's & St. John's

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St. Anne's & St. John's ward
St. Anne's & St. John's
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Catherine Spindler 1,071 45.1 –8.5
Conservative Simon Crow 674 28.4 +1.8
Labour Brian Omiyi 476 20.0 +6.5
Green Sabestian Dwyer 155 6.5 +0.2
Majority 397 16.7 –10.3
Turnout 2,376 29.1 –2.5
Registered electors 8,167
Liberal Democrats hold Swing  5.2

Stanway

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Stanway ward
Stanway
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jeremy Hagon* 847 40.1 +10.1
Liberal Democrats Chantelle-Louise Whyborn 809 38.3 –20.7
Labour William Hayton 300 14.2 +6.5
Green Clare Smee 155 7.3 +4.0
Majority 38 1.8 N/A
Turnout 2,111 28.9 –4.5
Registered electors 7,309
Conservative hold Swing  15.4

Tiptree

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Tiptree ward
Tiptree
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Roger Mannion* 971 44.5 –10.0
Labour Co-op Luke Hayes 525 24.1 +6.9
Reform UK Ashley Girling 411 18.8 +10.2
Liberal Democrats Sue Waite 139 6.4 –4.3
Green Clare Burgess 135 6.2 –2.9
Majority 446 20.4 –16.9
Turnout 2,181 29.0 –3.8
Registered electors 7,524
Conservative hold Swing  6.5

Wivenhoe

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Wivenhoe ward
Wivenhoe
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Sean Kelly 1,421 52.1 –21.5
Labour Philip Long 926 33.9 +21.2
Conservative Andrew Higginson 208 7.6 +3.3
Green Berthold Lausen 175 6.4 –3.0
Majority 495 18.2 –42.7
Turnout 2,730 40.9 +2.3
Registered electors 6,673
Liberal Democrats hold Swing  21.4

References

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  1. ^ "Election timetables for scheduled local government elections in England". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Notice of Election" (PDF). Colchester City Council. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Colchester City Council upcoming elections". Colchester Council. 2023-12-30. Archived from the original on 2023-12-30. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  4. ^ Hensel, Natalie (16 May 2024). "Colchester Council confirms new administration and cabinet". Daily Gazette and Essex County Standard. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Colchester City Council. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.

Notes

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  1. ^ Originally elected as a Green, but defected to Labour in December 2022
  2. ^ Elected at the 2023 Highwoods by-election