The City of Colchester is a local government district with city status in Essex, England, named after its main settlement, Colchester. The district also includes the towns of West Mersea and Wivenhoe and the surrounding rural areas stretching from Dedham Vale on the Suffolk border in the north to Mersea Island in the Colne Estuary in the south.
The district borders Tendring District to the east, Maldon District to the south, Braintree District to the west, and Babergh District in Suffolk to the north.
Colchester stands on the site of Camulodunum, which had been an important stronghold of the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni tribes in the Iron Age prior to the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. The Romans subsequently developed Camulodunum into the first capital of their province of Britannia. They later moved their capital to Londinium (London). Following the end of Roman rule in Britain in the early 5th century, the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons, and the town on the site of Camulodunum became known as Colchester.[1]
Colchester was an ancient borough with urban forms of local government from Saxon times. Burgesses were already established by the time of the Domesday survey of 1086. The earliest known borough charter dates from 1189, but that charter appears to confirm pre-existing borough rights rather than being the foundation of a new borough.[2] The borough was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough.[3]
The current district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, covering four former districts which were abolished at the same time:[4]
The new district was named Colchester after its largest settlement.[5] The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Colchester's series of mayors.[6]
As part of the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II celebrations in 2022, the borough of Colchester was granted city status, confirmed by Letters Patent dated 5 September 2022, allowing the council to change its name to "Colchester City Council".[7]
| Colchester City Council | |
| Logo Pic: | Colchester City Council logo.svg |
| Logo Res: | 200px |
| House Type: | Non-metropolitan district |
| Leader1 Type: | Mayor |
| Leader1: | Lesley Scott-Boutell |
| Party1: | Independent[8] |
| Election1: | 22 May 2024 |
| Leader2 Type: | Leader |
| Leader2: | David King |
| Party2: | Liberal Democrat |
| Election2: | 22 May 2022 |
| Leader3 Type: | Chief Executive |
| Leader3: | Pamela Donelly |
| Election3: | 1 April 2022[9] |
| Members: | 51 |
| Structure1: | ColchesterCouncilJune2024.svg |
| Structure1 Res: | 250 |
| Political Groups1: |
|
| Last Election1: | 2 May 2024 |
| Next Election1: | 7 May 2026 |
| Session Room: | File:Colchester Town Hall.jpg |
| Meeting Place: | Town Hall, High Street, Colchester, CO11PJ |
Colchester City Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Essex County Council. Parts of the district are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[10]
The council has been under no overall control since 2008. Since the 2023 election it has been controlled by a Liberal Democrat minority administration with the support of the Labour Party and the Green Party on a case-by-case basis.[11]
The first election to the borough council following the reforms of the Local Government Act 1972 was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[12] [13] [14]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974–1976 | ||
| 1976–1986 | ||
| 1986–1994 | ||
| 1994–1998 | ||
| 1998–2007 | ||
| 2007–2008 | ||
| 2008–present | ||
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Colchester. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2000 have been:[15]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Frame | 2000 | 2002 | ||
| Colin Sykes | 2002 | 2004 | ||
| John Jowers | 2004 | 2006 | ||
| Robert Davidson | 2006 | 2008 | ||
| Anne Turrell | 2008 | 16 Jun 2014 | ||
| Martin Hunt | 16 Jun 2014 | 10 May 2015 | ||
| Paul Smith | 27 May 2015 | 6 May 2018 | ||
| Mark Cory | 23 May 2018 | 26 May 2021 | ||
| Paul Dundas | 26 May 2021 | 8 May 2022 | ||
| David King | 22 May 2022 | |||
Following the 2024 council elections and subsequent party-resignations, the composition of the council is:
| Party | Councillors | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | |||
| 14 | |||
| 14 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 1 | |||
| Total | 51 | ||
The next election is due 7 May 2026.
The council is based at Colchester Town Hall on the High Street. The current building was completed in 1902 on a site which had been occupied by Colchester's main civic buildings since 1277.[16]
Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 51 councillors representing 17 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, choosing one councillor for each ward at a time to serve a four year term. In the fourth year of the cycle when there are no elections to the city council, elections for Essex County Council are held instead.[17]
According to the Office for National Statistics as of 2008, Colchester had a population of approximately 181,000.[18] Average life expectancy was 78.7 for males. and 83.3 for females.[19]
Based on ethnic groups, predominantly of 92% of the population is White (87.5% British, 0.7% Irish and 3.8% Other White), Asians were the second largest making up 3.6% (0.8% Indian, 0.2% Pakistani, 0.2% Bangladeshi and 1% Chinese, other 1.4%), Black people constituted 1.4% (0.3% Caribbean, 1% African, 0.1% other), those of mixed race made up 1.8%, 0.6% were Arab and there were 0.4% from other ethnic groups.[20]
In the 2011 census, 57.7% identified themselves as Christian, while 31.4% had no affiliation to a religion. Of other religions, 1.6% identified as Muslim, 0.7% Hindu, 0.6% Buddhist, 0.2% Jewish, 0.1% Sikh, 0.5% others, and 7.3% did not answer.[21] There are more than 100 churches located in Colchester: other religious places of worship include the Colchester Islamic Cultural Association and the Jewish Community Synagogue.
There are 35 civil parishes in the district. The former Colchester Municipal Borough is an unparished area (subject to some adjustments since 1974 to that area's boundaries with neighbouring parishes).[22] The parish councils of Wivenhoe and West Mersea take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes are grouped together to share a parish council: Abberton and Langenhoe Parish Council covers those two parishes, and the Winstred Hundred Parish Council covers the four parishes of Great and Little Wigborough, Peldon, Salcott, and Virley. The two parishes of Layer Breton and Layer Marney have parish meetings rather than parish councils due to their small populations.[23]