Election Name: | 2014 Colchester Borough Council election |
Country: | Essex |
Type: | parliamentary |
Previous Election: | 2012 Colchester Borough Council election |
Previous Year: | 2012 |
Next Election: | Colchester Borough Council election, 2015 |
Next Year: | 2015 |
Seats For Election: | 20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council |
Majority Seats: | 31 |
Party1: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
Last Election1: | 26 seats, 32.6% |
Seats Before1: | 26 |
Seats1: | 9 |
Seats After1: | 25 |
Seat Change1: | 1 |
Popular Vote1: | 8,988 |
Percentage1: | 23.0% |
Swing1: | 9.6% |
Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
Last Election2: | 23 seats, 28.9% |
Seats Before2: | 23 |
Seats2: | 8 |
Seats After2: | 23 |
Popular Vote2: | 13,144 |
Percentage2: | 33.6% |
Swing2: | 4.7% |
Party4: | Labour Party (UK) |
Last Election4: | 8 seats, 24.0% |
Seats Before4: | 7 |
Seats4: | 2 |
Seats After4: | 8 |
Seat Change4: | 1 |
Popular Vote4: | 6,334 |
Percentage4: | 15.8% |
Swing4: | 7.8% |
Party5: | Independent politician |
Last Election5: | 3 seats, 4.5% |
Seats Before5: | 3 |
Seats5: | 1 |
Seats After5: | 3 |
Popular Vote5: | 1,127 |
Percentage5: | 2.9% |
Swing5: | 1.6% |
Leader of the council | |
Posttitle: | Leader of the council after election |
Before Election: | Anne Turrell |
Before Party: | Liberal Democrats |
After Election: | Martin Hunt |
After Party: | Liberal Democrats |
The 2014 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]
Before the election a coalition between the 26 Liberal Democrats, 7 Labour and 3 independents ran the council, while the 23 Conservatives were in opposition.[2] There were also one seat vacant after the death of the Labour councillor for Wivenhoe Quay Steve Ford.[3]
20 seats were being contested, with the candidates including a full slate from the Green party and 13 from the UK Independence Party, more than the party had put forward at any previous local election in Colchester.[2] 6 sitting councillors stood down at the election including the then mayor, Colin Sykes.[4]
Only one seat changed hands at the election, with Labour's Chris Pearson gaining Berechurch from the Liberal Democrats.[5] The Liberal Democrats held the other 9 seats they had been defending, holding Castle by 46 votes over the Conservatives and Old Heath (formerly Harbour ward[6]) by 69 votes from Labour.[5] The Conservatives gained an increased share of the vote at the election, but did not gain any more seats.[5]
Meanwhile, the UK Independence Party picked up 16% of the vote, coming second in 9 wards, but failed to take any seats.[7] This was despite the party topping the polls in Colchester with 35% at the European parliamentary election that was held at the same time as the council election,[8] and coming closest to taking a seat in Tiptree where the Conservatives held the seat by 85 votes.[5]
Following the election, councillor Laura Sykes left the Liberal Democrats and joined the Highwoods Independent group on the council (renamed to Highwoods & Stanway Independents), after a long-standing dispute with another Liberal Democrat councillor.[9] The coalition between the Liberal Democrats, Labour and independents continued to run the council.[10]
Prior to the election, Old Heath was known as Harbour ward.
A by-election was held in Wivenhoe Quay on 3 July 2014 following the death of Labour councillor Steve Ford.[11] [12] The seat was held for Labour by Rosalind Scott with a majority of 228 votes over the Conservatives.[10]