The 2016 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2016 to elect members to Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. This was on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom. The whole council was up for election on new ward boundaries. The total number of councillors on the council was reduced by 9 from 60 to 51 seats.
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 an Independent (1 seat). Following the election, Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Smith (St Anne's & St John's) was elected leader of the council with 32 votes for and 28 against.
Background
Following the 2015 election the Liberal Democrat-Labour-Independent coalition maintained control of the Council, although with a much reduced majority of 4 seats. 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 and successfully defend their held seats. Following a promising performance at the 2014 election, UKIP failed to build on their success and lost in vote share across the borough, failing to take a single ward. Despite a notable boost in local and national membership, the Green Party 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 to date.
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 took effect at this election. The changes reduced the overall number of councillors on the council by 9 (60 to 51 seats), reduced the number of wards by 10 (27 to 17 wards) and standardised the number of councillors representing each ward (3 councillors per ward). Each ward was designed to contain approximately 8,000 electors, taking into account the projected population growth over the next 10 years.
Summary
Election result
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 Democrat 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. Incumbent councillors standing for re-election are marked with an asterisk (*).
Berechurch
Castle
Greenstead
Greenstead was created from the following wards:
St. Andrew's St. Anne's
Highwoods
Top-candidate result%+/-Independent 40.7 +3.8Conservative 24.9 -2.7Labour 10.4 -0.7Liberal Democrat 9.9 -0.9UKIP 9.1 -0.1Green 5.0 +0.7
Lexden & Braiswick
Lexden & Braiswick was created from the following wards:
Lexden West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green Mile End Great Tey
Marks Tey & Layer
Marks Tey & Layer was created from the following wards:
Marks Tey Birch & Winstree Copford & West Stanway
Mersea & Pyefleet
Mersea & Pyefleet was created from the following wards:
West Mersea Pyefleet
Top-candidate result%Conservative 45.8 UKIP 21.4 Labour 14.4Green 12.8 Liberal Democrat 5.6
Mile End
Top-candidate result%+/-Liberal Democrat 57.3 +25.1Conservative 25.2 -13.2Labour 10.4 -2.5Green 7.1 +0.4
New Town & Christ Church
New Town & Christ Church was created from the following wards:
New Town Christ Church
Top-candidate result%Liberal Democrat 36.8 Conservative 22.9 Labour 22.3Green 17.9
Old Heath & The Hythe
Old Heath & The Hythe was created from the following wards:
Old Heath New Town East Donyland
Prettygate
Top-candidate result%+/-Conservative 55.6 +4.5Liberal Democrat 17.8 -3.9Labour 16.5 +4.7Green 10.1 +5.7
Rural North
Rural North was created from the following wards:
Dedham & Langham Fordham & Stour Great Tey West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green
Shrub End
Top-candidate result%+/-Liberal Democrat 35.0 Conservative 19.2 UKIP 13.8 Independent 12.7 Labour 11.8 Green 7.5
St. Anne's & St. John's
St. Anne's & St. John's was created from the following wards:
St. Anne's St. John's
Stanway
Party%+/-Conservative 40.7 -1.7Liberal Democrat 40.7 +3.7Labour 12.8 -1.4Green 5.8 -0.2
Tiptree
Top-candidate result%+/-Conservative 67.9 +25.1Labour 18.6 +5.4Green 13.5 +10.3
Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe was created from the following wards:
Wivenhoe Cross Wivenhoe Quay
By-elections
Shrub End
References