2015 Colchester Borough Council election

The 2015 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect one third of the members of Colchester Borough Council in England. This was the same day as other local elections and as the General Election. Colchester Borough Council is made up of 60 councillors: 20 councillors were up for election.

2015 Colchester Borough Council election

7 May 2015 (2015-05-07)
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 23 seats, 33.6% 25 seats, 23.0% Seats before 23 24 Seats won 13 3 Seats after 27 20 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 28,023 13,827 Percentage 40.1% 19.8% Swing 6.5% 3.2%   Third party Fourth party   Party Labour Independent Last election 9 seats, 16.2% 3 seats, 2.9% Seats before 9 4 Seats won 3 1 Seats after 9 4 Seat change Popular vote 12,940 1,643 Percentage 18.5% 2.4% Swing 2.3% 0.5%
Leader of the council before election Martin Hunt Liberal Democrats Leader of the council after election Paul Smith Liberal Democrats

Prior to the elections, Liberal Democrat councillor for New Town ward, Theresa Higgins, was appointed Mayor of Colchester for a term of one-year.

Composition of council seats before election

Prior to the election the composition of the council was:

↓

24	9	4	23
Liberal Democrats	Labour	Ind	Conservative

After the election, the composition of the council was:

↓

20	9	4	27
Liberal Democrats	Labour	Ind	Conservative

Candidates by party

Liberal Democrats (20/20)

Conservative Party (20/20)

Labour Party (20/20)

Green Party (20/20)

UKIP (15/20)

Independent (3/20)

The Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Labour Party and Green Party all stood a full slate of 20 candidates. UKIP stood 15 candidates and 3 independents (including a candidate with the description 'Patriotic Socialist Party') stood for election.

Results summary

With 30 seats required for a dead-heat majority (of 0), no single grouping of councillors remained in overall control of policy decision-making. Conservatives fell 3 short this time whereas at the last election a five-becoming-six seat deficit existed during the four-year term for the largest grouping which had been the Liberal Democrats.

2015 Colchester Borough Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	13	4	65.0	14	27	45.0	28,023	40.1	+6.5
	Liberal Democrats	3	4	15.0	17	20	33.3	13,827	19.8	–3.2
	Labour	3		15.0	6	9	15.0	12,940	18.5	+2.3
	Independent	1		5.0	3	4	6.7	1,543	2.4	–0.5
	UKIP	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	7,775	11.1	–4.7
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	5,767	8.2	–0.4

Ward results

No turnout figures were provided by the council.

Berechurch

Berechurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dave Harris*	1,958	50.3	+10.3
	Conservative	Michael Brown	858	22.0	+8.7
	UKIP	Paul Mulvey	521	13.4	−9.1
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Hislop	406	10.4	−9.2
	Green	Clare Palmer	152	3.9	+0.3
Majority			1,100	28.3	+10.8
Turnout			3,895
	Labour hold		Swing	0.8

Birch & Winstree

Birch & Winstree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Ellis*	1,913	59.7	+5.3
	UKIP	John Pitts	569	17.8	−10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Gill Collings	291	9.1	+4.2
	Labour	John Spademan	287	9.0	+1.3
	Green	Jan Plummer	145	4.5	−1.3
Majority			1,344	41.9	+14.4
Turnout			3,205
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.0

Castle

Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Darius Laws	1,667	35.9	+11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Owen Howell	1,172	25.2	−0.5
	Green	Andrew Canessa	982	21.2	+4.0
	Labour	Andrew Murphy	821	17.7	−0.1
Majority			495	10.7	N/A
Turnout			4,642
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	6.2

No UKIP candidate as previous (-15.0).

Christ Church

Christ Church

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Annesley Hardy	964	38.0	+9.3
	Liberal Democrats	Robin James	670	26.4	−6.1
	Labour	Elisa Vasquez-Walters	433	17.1	+0.5
	Green	Charles Ham	319	12.6	−2.2
	UKIP	Ron Levy	148	5.8	−1.6
Majority			294	11.6	N/A
Turnout			2,534
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	7.7

Copford & West Stanway

Copford & West Stanway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jackie Maclean	673	59.8	−6.9
	UKIP	Chris Treloar	177	15.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Robert James	115	10.2	−2.7
	Labour	Barbara Nichols	115	10.2	−3.4
	Green	Emma-Jane Kemp	46	4.1	−2.6
Majority			496	44.1	−9.0
Turnout			1,126
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Fordham & Stour

Fordham & Stour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Chapman*	2,023	65.4	−0.1
	Labour	Kevin Stannard	396	12.8	+0.2
	Green	Sue Bailey	337	10.9	−1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Barry Woodward	337	10.9	+2.6
Majority			1,627	52.6	+0.8
Turnout			3,093
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.2

Great Tey

Great Tey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Chillingworth*	979	58.6	−2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Waite	257	15.4	+6.4
	Labour	Matt Creamer	170	10.2	+0.4
	UKIP	David Holmes	162	9.7	−5.1
	Green	Robert Brannan	104	6.2	+0.4
Majority			722	43.2	−2.7
Turnout			1,672
	Conservative hold		Swing	4.1

Highwoods

Highwoods

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Phil Oxford*	1,592	36.9	−15.2
	Conservative	Chris Hayter	1,192	27.7	+15.3
	Labour	Gary Braddy	479	11.1	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats	John Baker	466	10.6	+2.6
	UKIP	Jamie Middleditch	395	9.2	−4.1
	Green	Robbie Spencer	187	4.3	+0.1
Majority			400	9.2	−29.6
Turnout			4,311
	Independent hold		Swing	15.3

Mile End

Mile End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ben Locker	2,101	38.4	+7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Ciaran Patrick McGonagle	1,769	32.3	−8.4
	Labour	Martin Camroux	707	12.9	+5.2
	UKIP	Tony Terry	533	9.7	−5.1
	Green	Mary Bryan	368	6.7	+0.9
Majority			332	6.1	N/A
Turnout			5,478
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	7.9

New Town

New Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Annie Feltham*	1,289	32.1	−9.5
	Conservative	Matt Neall	834	20.8	+8.4
	Labour	Lee Scordis	772	19.2	+4.4
	Green	Mark Goacher	631	15.7	+2.3
	UKIP	Alex Knupffer	493	12.3	−5.8
Majority			455	11.3	−12.2
Turnout			3,719	56.3	+27.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	9.0

Prettygate

Prettygate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Will Quince*	2,269	51.1	−6.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Loxley	967	21.8	+0.6
	Labour	Mike Dale	522	11.8	±0.0
	UKIP	Steve Galvin	489	11.0	N/A
	Green	Luke O'Loughlin	196	4.4	−4.7
Majority			1,302	29.3	−7.4
Turnout			4,443
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.7

Shrub End

Shrub End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pauline Hazell*	1,517	35.2	+14.6
	Liberal Democrats	Sharron Lawrence	1,157	25.9	−7.9
	UKIP	Simon Collins	757	16.9	−5.0
	Labour	Gary Griffiths	736	16.5	−2.2
	Green	Stuart Welham	251	5.6	+1.6
Majority			360	9.3	N/A
Turnout			4,418
	Conservative hold		Swing	11.3

St. Andrew's

St. Andrew's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tim Young	1,462	48.8	−12.8
	Conservative	Chris Hill	715	23.9	+8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Verity Woolley	447	14.9	+3.0
	Green	Joshua Murray	370	12.4	+1.7
Majority			747	24.9	−20.9
Turnout			2,994
	Labour hold		Swing	10.5

St. Anne's

St. Anne's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Barrie Cook*	1,173	31.2	−8.5
	Conservative	Peter Klejna-Wendt	976	26.0	+10.8
	UKIP	Bill Faram	770	20.5	−4.9
	Labour	Amanda Stannard	600	16.0	+2.6
	Green	Stephen Ford	241	6.4	−0.1
Majority			197	5.2	−9.2
Turnout			3,760
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	9.7

Stanway

Stanway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Fiona Maclean	1,861	42.8	+12.6
	Liberal Democrats	Lesley Scott-Boutell	1,611	37.0	+3.3
	Labour	Carole Spademan	616	14.2	+4.0
	Green	Tim Glover	261	6.0	+0.9
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

No UKIP candidate as previous (-20.8).

Tiptree

Tiptree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Crowe	1,873	42.8	+1.5
	UKIP	Stuart Gulleford	1,313	32.5	−5.0
	Labour	Robert Spademan	535	13.2	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Miah Ahmed	194	4.8	+1.3
	Green	Katherine Bamforth	129	3.2	−2.1
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green

West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marcus Harrington	1,578	54.7	−7.1
	UKIP	Ben Clark	370	12.8	N/A
	Labour	Ian Yates	306	10.6	−2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Gemma Graham	265	9.2	+0.8
	Green	Roger Bamforth	204	7.1	−10.1
	Independent	Julian McCallum	151	5.2	N/A
	Patriotic Socialist	Dave Osbourne	12	0.4	N/A
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

West Mersea

West Mersea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Moore	2,154	51.9	+0.8
	UKIP	David Broise	988	23.8	−3.8
	Labour	Alison Inman	402	9.7	+1.0
	Green	Lisa Britton	330	8.0	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Stevens	278	6.7	+2.6
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Wivenhoe Cross

Wivenhoe Cross

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Cory	668	44.9	−8.1
	Labour	Phil Finn	328	22.1	+2.7
	Conservative	Natalie Jukes	271	18.2	−3.1
	Green	Christopher Flossman	130	8.7	+2.2
	UKIP	Carole Morse	90	6.1	N/A
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Wivenhoe Quay

Wivenhoe Quay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rosalind Scott	1,295	40.9	−11.8
	Conservative	Peter Hill	1,251	39.5	+7.6
	Green	Laura Poutney	325	10.3	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Shaun Boughton	295	9.3	+2.3
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

By-elections

Dedham & Langham

In June 2015, in accordance with the Local Government Act 1972, Conservative councillor Mark Cable "ceased to be a member of the council" after failing to attend a council meeting since December 2014 (6 months). A by-election was called and the ward was subsequently held by the Conservatives.

Dedham & Langham: 22 October 2015

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anne Brown	545	77.9	+8.6
	UKIP	Bill Faram	60	8.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	George Penny	57	8.1	−1.6
	Labour	John Spademan	38	5.4	−4.3
Turnout			700	29.1	−5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A