| Election Name: | 2024 Colchester City Council election |
| Country: | Essex |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 2023 Colchester City Council election |
| Previous Year: | 2023 |
| Next Election: | 2026 Colchester City Council election |
| Next Year: | 2026 |
| Seats For Election: | 18 out of 51 seats to Colchester City Council |
| Majority Seats: | 26 |
| Turnout: | 29.9% (1.1%) |
| Leader1: | Paul Dundas |
| Party1: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Last Election1: | 19 seats, 30.5% |
| Seats Before1: | 19 |
| Seats Needed1: | 7 |
| Seats1: | 7 |
| Seats After1: | 19 |
| Popular Vote1: | 13,080 |
| Percentage1: | 30.0% |
| Swing1: | 0.5% |
| Leader2: | Martin Goss |
| Party2: | Liberal Democrats (UK) |
| Last Election2: | 15 seats, 30.3% |
| Seats Before2: | 16 |
| Seats Needed2: | 10 |
| Seats2: | 4 |
| Seats After2: | 15 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 9,972 |
| Percentage2: | 22.9% |
| Swing2: | 7.4% |
| Leader4: | Julie Young |
| Party4: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Last Election4: | 15 seats, 24.5% |
| Seats Before4: | 13 |
| Seats Needed4: | 12 |
| Seats4: | 6 |
| Seats After4: | 14 |
| Popular Vote4: | 14,180 |
| Percentage4: | 32.5% |
| Swing4: | 8.0% |
| Leader5: | Mark Goacher |
| Party5: | Green Party of England and Wales |
| Last Election5: | 2 seats, 10.2% |
| Seats Before5: | 2 |
| Seats Needed5: | 24 |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seats After5: | 3 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 4,447 |
| Percentage5: | 10.2% |
| Swing5: | 0.0% |
| Leader | |
| Posttitle: | Leader after election |
| Before Election: | David King Liberal Democrats |
| Before Party: | No overall control |
| After Election: | David King Liberal Democrats |
| After Party: | No overall control |
The 2024 Colchester City Council election took place on 2 May 2024 alongside other local elections across England.[1] Eighteen members of the council were elected, one from each of the wards, with an additional by-election in Greenstead ward.[2] [3]
The council was under no overall control prior to the election. The Conservatives were the largest party, but the council was being run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration with informal support from Labour and the Green Party. Only two seats changed party at the election, and after the election the Liberal Democrats continued to form a minority administration, with Labour and the Greens lending their support on a case-by-case basis.[4]
This set of seats were last up for election at the 2021 election. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council election (then Borough) scheduled for 2020 was postponed one year to 2021. This resulted in the terms of councillors elected at the 2021 election being truncated to 3-years rather than the usual 4-years.
In addition to the seventeen regular members up for election, there will be a by-election in Greenstead ward due to the resignation of Cllr Molly Bloomfield.
| Party | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative Party | 19 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | 16 | ||
| Labour Party | 14 | ||
| Green Party | 2 | ||
At the election, Labour made a significant advance in vote share, coming first in the popular vote (for the first time since the inaugural 1973 election) and winning the marginal ward of Shrub End from the Liberal Democrats, and making large gains in vote share across the city. In contrast, the Liberal Democrats lost a large portion of their vote when compared to the 2023 election, failing to win their top targets of Stanway and Prettygate; they did, however, retain the marginal seat of Highwoods against Labour.
For the Conservativates, it was another disappointing result, losing the popular vote to Labour and seeing their vote share decline or stagnate in key wards such as Castle and Highwoods. They did, however, retain their seat in Stanway against a strong challenge from the Liberal Democrats. The Green Party remained static in the popular vote, but managed to unseat their former leader (who defected to Labour in 2022) in Castle ward, bringing their total number of seats to 3.
| Ward | Incumbent Councillor | Party | Re-standing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berechurch | Dave Harris | Yes | ||
| Castle | Steph Nissen[5] | Yes | ||
| Greenstead | Julie Young | Yes | ||
| Highwoods | Simon Appleton[6] | Yes | ||
| Lexden & Braiswick | Dennis Willetts | Yes | ||
| Marks Tey & Layer | Kevin Bentley | Yes | ||
| Mersea & Pyefleet | John Jowers | No | ||
| Mile End | Martin Goss | Yes | ||
| New Town & Christ Church | Pam Cox | Yes | ||
| Old Heath & The Hythe | Mike Lilley | Yes | ||
| Prettygate | Sue Lissimore | Yes | ||
| Rural North | Darius Laws | Yes | ||
| Shrub End | Lyn Barton | No | ||
| St. Anne's & St. John's | Mike Hogg | No | ||
| Stanway | Jeremy Hagon | Yes | ||
| Tiptree | Roger Mannion | Yes | ||
| Wivenhoe | Michelle Burrows | No | ||
The Statement of Persons Nominated details the candidates standing in each ward. It was released on 5 April 2023 following the close of nominations.[7] Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*).