Castle (Colchester electoral ward)

Castle is an electoral ward in Colchester and is within the Colchester Borough Council boundary, to which it elects 3 councillors.

Castle
Electoral ward for Colchester Borough Council
Castle ward (in red) displayed within Colchester Borough
Ward Information
CreatedUnknown
Councillors3
Electorate7,615 (2015)
Created fromUnknown
St. Marys (2002)
Overlaps
Parliament constituencyColchester (Unknown-1983; 1997-present)
Colchester North (1983-1997)
County divisionAbbey

The ward covers central Colchester, England including the Town Centre, the historic Dutch Quarter neighbourhood and Colchester Castle, which lends its namesake to the ward.

History

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Castle ward has existed since at least 1976 and is still in use today. The boundaries of the ward have seldom changed, with the exception of the amalgamation of the St. Marys neighbourhood (from St. Marys ward) into the west of Castle following boundary changes from the 2002 election.

The ward was originally held by the Labour Party and then changed hands between the Conservatives, Labour and the SDP-Liberal Alliance (later Liberal Democrats) until the 1990 election, when the Liberal Democrats solidly held the ward for the next 25 years. Recently, it has become a marginal ward, last won by the Green Party at the 2019 election.

Castle has the highest vote share for the Green Party in a Colchester ward.

Ward Councillors

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Current

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Name Party Years in Office
Richard Kirkby-Taylor Green 2022–present
Steph Nissen Labour 2021–present
Mark Goacher Green 2019–present

Former

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Name Party Years in Office
Ken Cooke Labour 1978–1992; 1995-1999
D. Dunn Labour 1979-1983
D. Goodchild Labour 1980-1984
E. Humphrey Conservative 1983-1987
R. Cole Conservative 1984-1988
as above Liberal Democrats 1988-1990
Chris Hall Liberal Democrats 1987-2010
J. Carter Liberal Democrats 1990-1995
Henry Spyvee Liberal Democrats 1990-2012
Ken Jones Liberal Democrats 1999-2007
Bill Frame Liberal Democrats 2010-2016
Jo Hayes Liberal Democrats 2012-2016
Simon Crow Conservative 2018-2022

Elections

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Election Results

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Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
2015 election
Electorate: 7,615
Turnout: 4,642 (61.0%) +23.0
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats
Majority: 496 (10.6%) N/A
Swing: 6.2% from Lib Dem to Con
Darius LawsConservative1,66735.9+11.8
Owen Howell Liberal Democrats1,17225.2-0.5
Andrew Canessa Green98221.2+4.0
Andrew Murphy Labour82117.7-0.1
2014 election
Turnout: 2,683 (38.0%) +8.0
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 46 (1.7%) -20.2
Swing: 10.4% from Lib Dem to Con
Bill FrameLiberal Democrats69325.8-14.6
Darius Laws Conservative64724.1+6.2
Ben Howard Labour47817.8+4.4
Peter Lynn Green46217.2-1.4
Ron Levy UKIP40315.0+5.3
2012 election
Turnout: 2,129 (30.0%) -9.5
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 466 (21.9%) +7.6
Swing: 4.2% from Green to Lib Dem
Jo HayesLiberal Democrats86140.4+0.3
Peter Lynn Green39518.6-7.1
Mohammed Rashid Conservative38217.9-3.1
Robert Fisher Labour28513.4+0.2
Ron Levy UKIP2069.7N/A
2011 election
Turnout: 2,779 (39.5%) -19.6
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 398 (14.3%) -1.3
Swing: 3.0% from Lib Dem to Green
Nick BarlowLiberal Democrats1,11340.1-1.7
Peter Lynn Green71525.7+4.2
Bruce Halling Conservative58321.0-5.2
Luke Dopson Labour36813.2+2.6
2010 election
Turnout: 4,248 (59.1%) +21.0
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 662 (15.6%) +2.1
Swing: 6.0% from Lib Dem to Con
Bill FrameLiberal Democrats1,77441.8-3.4
Lucy Cramer Conservative1,11226.2+8.6
Peter Lynn Green91321.5-10.2
Adam Fox Labour44910.6+5.1
2008 election
Turnout: 2,460 (38.1%) +0.7
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 332 (13.5%) +4.8
Swing: 2.2% from Green to Lib Dem
William SpyveeLiberal Democrats1,11145.2+4.2
Peter Lynn Green77931.7-0.6
Darius Laws Conservative43417.6-2.9
John Cooke Labour1365.5-0.7
2007 election
Turnout: 2,291 (37.4%) +1.4
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 200 (8.7%) -17.3
Swing: 8.7% from Lib Dem to Green
Nick BarlowLiberal Democrats94041.0-7.7
Peter Lynn Green74032.3+9.7
Glenn Granger Conservative46920.5+2.4
Michael Powell Labour1426.2-1.9
2006 election
Turnout: 2,306 (36.0%) +0.6
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 600 (26.0%) -4.2
Swing: 15.9% from Lib Dem to Green
Chris HallLiberal Democrats1,12248.7-9.2
Peter Lynn Green52222.6N/A
Benjamin Twitchen Conservative41818.1-9.6
Mark Warner Labour1878.1-6.4
Stephen Miller Independent572.5N/A
2004 election
Turnout: 2,047 (35.4%) +6.8
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 619 (30.2%) +0.1
Swing: 0.1% from Con to Lib Dem
William SpyveeLiberal Democrats1,18557.9+3.5
Pauline Lucas Conservative56627.7+3.4
Malcolm Cannon Labour29614.5+1.8
2003 election
Turnout: 1,660 (28.6%) -3.4
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 499 (30.1%)
Swing: 1.3% from Lib Dem to Con
Kenneth JonesLiberal Democrats90354.4-2.0
Pauline Lucas Conservative40424.3+4.8
Malcolm Cannon Labour21012.7-1.4
Walter Schwarz Green1328.0-2.0
2000 election
Turnout: 31.0% (-1.0)
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 263 (14.3%) -4.4
Swing: 3.8% from Lab to Lib Dem
William SpyveeLiberal Democrats78842.9-1.4
N. Stock Conservative52528.6+8.6
Kim Naish Labour48626.4-10.8
L. Basker Natural Law392.1N/A
1999 election
Turnout: 32.2%
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 8.9%
Swing: 3.5% from Lib Dem to Lab
Kenneth JonesLiberal Democrats83444.3
J. Thomas Labour66635.4
M. Coyne Conservative38420.4
1998 election
Turnout: 34.0%
Liberal Democrats hold
Majority: 15.8%
Swing: 4.6% from Lab to Lib Dem
Chris HallLiberal Democrats90744.5
Chris Pearson Labour58528.7
N. Stock Conservative51425.2
L. Basker Natural Law321.6
1996 electionLiberal Democrats hold
Majority: 7.7%
Swing: 4.2% from Lab to Lib Dem
William SpyveeLiberal Democratsunopposed

Charts

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Vote Share: 1976-2000

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Vote Share: 2000-2015

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Polling districts

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Electorate in brackets (as of 2015):[1]

  • AF: Castle (1,500)
  • AE: Jumbo (1,201)
  • AG: Riverside (2,247)
  • AH: Cowdray Avenue (2,488)

References

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  1. ^ "Colchester Borough Council Draft Polling District and Polling Place Review 2015". Colchester Borough Council. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2016.