The 2024 Colchester City Council election took place on 2 May 2024 alongside other local elections across England. Eighteen members of the council were elected, one from each of the wards, with an additional by-election in Greenstead ward.
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.
Background This set of seats was 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.
+Pre-Election CompositionPartySeatsConservative Party19Liberal Democrats16Labour Party14Green Party2
Summary
Overview
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 Conservatives, 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.
Candidates by party
Election result
Incumbents
Ward Incumbent CouncillorParty Re-standing Berechurch Dave Harris Labour Co-op Yes Castle Steph NissenOriginally elected as a Green, but defected to Labour in December 2022 Labour Yes Greenstead Julie Young Labour Co-op Yes Highwoods Simon AppletonElected at the 2023 Highwoods by-election Liberal Democrats Yes Lexden & Braiswick Dennis Willetts Conservative Yes Marks Tey & Layer Kevin Bentley Conservative Yes Mersea & Pyefleet John Jowers Conservative No Mile End Martin Goss Liberal Democrats Yes New Town & Christ Church Pam Cox Labour Yes Old Heath & The Hythe Mike Lilley Labour Co-op Yes Prettygate Sue Lissimore Conservative Yes Rural North Darius Laws Conservative Yes Shrub End Lyn Barton Liberal Democrats No St. Anne's & St. John's Mike Hogg Liberal Democrats No Stanway Jeremy Hagon Conservative Yes Tiptree Roger Mannion Conservative Yes Wivenhoe Michelle Burrows Liberal Democrats No
Ward results
The Statement of Persons Nominated details the candidates standing in each ward. It was released on 5 April 2023 following the close of nominations. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*).
Berechurch
Castle
Greenstead
Highwoods
Lexden & Braiswick
Marks Tey & Layer
Mersea & Pyefleet
Mile End
New Town & Christ Church
Old Heath & The Hythe
Prettygate
Rural North
Shrub End
St. Anne's & St. John's
Stanway
Tiptree
Wivenhoe
Post-election
Affiliation changes
On 30 May 2024, Lesley Scott-Boutell (Stanway) left the Liberal Democrats group to sit as an Independent. This change put the Liberal Democrats and Labour on the same number of seats (14 each).
By-elections
Tiptree
New Town & Christ Church
References
Notes