2015 Colchester Borough Council election

2015 Colchester Borough Council election
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council; 31 seats needed for a majority
Leader of the council before election; Martin Hunt; Liberal Democrats	Leader of the council after election ; Paul Smith; Liberal Democrats

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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
Party		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

References

^ "Upcoming elections & referendums". The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
^ "Statement of Persons Nominated". Colchester Borough Council. Adrian Pritchard (Returning Officer). Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.