| Election Name: | 2018 Colchester Borough Council election |
| Country: | Essex |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 2016 Colchester Borough Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2016 |
| Election Date: | 3 May 2018 |
| Next Election: | 2019 Colchester Borough Council election |
| Next Year: | 2019 |
| Seats For Election: | 17 out of 51 seats to Colchester Borough Council |
| Majority Seats: | 26 |
| Turnout: | 33.1%[1] |
| Leader1: | Darius Laws |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Leaders Seat1: | Castle |
| Last Election1: | 22 seats, 37.5% |
| Seats Before1: | 23 |
| Seats1: | 10 |
| Seats After1: | 25 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 17,780 |
| Percentage1: | 40.4% |
| Swing1: | 2.9% |
| Leader2: | Paul Smith |
| Party2: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Leaders Seat2: | St. Anne's &<br>St. John's (defeated) |
| Last Election2: | 15 seats, 22.6% |
| Seats Before2: | 14 |
| Seats2: | 2 |
| Seats After2: | 12 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 8,770 |
| Percentage2: | 19.9% |
| Swing2: | 2.7% |
| Leader4: | Tim Young |
| Party4: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Leaders Seat4: | Greenstead |
| Last Election4: | 11 seats, 22.2% |
| Seats Before4: | 11 |
| Seats4: | 4 |
| Seats After4: | 11 |
| Popular Vote4: | 11,131 |
| Percentage4: | 25.3% |
| Swing4: | 3.1% |
| Leader5: | Beverly Oxford |
| Party5: | Independent (politician) |
| Leaders Seat5: | Highwoods |
| Last Election5: | 3 seats, 4.1% |
| Seats Before5: | 3 |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seats After5: | 3 |
| Popular Vote5: | 3,130 |
| Percentage5: | 7.1% |
| Swing5: | 3.0% |
| Leader of the council | |
| Posttitle: | Leader of the council after election |
| Before Election: | Paul Smith |
| Before Party: | Liberal Democrats |
| After Election: | Mark Cory |
| After Party: | Liberal Democrats |
Elections to Colchester Borough Council took place on 3 May 2018. Seventeen members of the council - one-third of the whole — were elected, one from each of the seventeen wards. It was the first standard election to take place following comprehensive boundary changes in 2016. This set of seats were last up for election in 2016, with the third-placed elected candidates being up for election in 2018.
The four main parties put up a full slate of candidates, and Independents stood in eight wards.
Prior to the election, the composition of the council was:
| 14 | 11 | 3 | 23 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Labour | Ind | Conservative |
After the election, the composition of the council was:
| 12 | 11 | 3 | 25 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Labour | Ind | Conservative |
The Liberal Democrats, Labour Party, and Independent groups reached a deal that would continue their coalition,[2] with Cllr Mark Cory to replace the unseated Paul Smith as Leader of the Council.
No UKIP candidate as previous (−12.8).
No UKIP candidate as previous (−14.8)
No UKIP candidate as previous (−9.1).
No UKIP candidate as previous (−17.6).
No UKIP candidate as previous (−21.4).
No UKIP (−13.8) or Independent (−12.7) candidates as previous.
No UKIP candidate as previous (−20.6).
No Independent candidate as previous (−13.6).