2003_Colchester_Council_election

2003 Colchester Borough Council election

2003 Colchester Borough Council election

2003 UK local government election


The 2003 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 1 May 2003 to elect members of Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. This was the same day as the other 2003 United Kingdom local elections. One third of the seats were up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.[1]

Quick Facts 21 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...
Map of the results of the 2003 Colchester council election. Conservatives in blue, Liberal Democrats in yellow, Labour in red and independents in light grey. Wards in dark grey were not contested in 2003.

Background

Prior to the election, two sitting Labour councillors resigned from the party, leaving the Labour group with 4 seats. Don Quinn (St Andrew's) left the Labour group to sit as an Independent, whilst Phillip Hawkins (Wivenhoe Cross) resigned his seat after moving to Scotland.[2]

Before the election the Conservatives were the largest party with 24 seats, the Liberal Democrats had 23 seats, Labour had 4 seats, there were 8 independents and 1 seat was vacant.[3] The council was run by a cabinet comprising 3 Conservatives, 3 Liberal Democrats and 1 Labour members.[4]

21 seats were being contested, with 2 seats available in Wivenhoe Cross due to the vacancy.[3] The remaining 20 seats all had the sitting councillors defending their seats and included the Labour group leader Tim Young in St Andrew's and the Conservative mayor Nigel Chapman in Fordham and Stour.[3] Meanwhile, in Highwoods, Ian Ringer, defended the seat as an independent after leaving the Liberal Democrats earlier in 2003.[3]

Election result

Prior to the election, 3 Liberal Democrat councillors from Highwoods ward defected and sat as Independents, reducing the Liberal Democrat group to 23 councillors.

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Before the election one seat was vacant in Wivenhoe Cross ward.

Ward results

Shown below are ward results according to the council's election results archive.[6][7][8]

Three of the single-seat wards (Dedham & Langham, East Donyland, Marks Tey) were not up for election this year. Neither were three of the two-seat wards (Harbour, Lexden, St John's).

Berechurch

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Birch & Winstree

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Castle

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Christ Church

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Copford & West Stanway

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Fordham & Stour

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Great Tey

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Highwoods

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Mile End

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New Town

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Prettygate

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St. Andrew's

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St. Anne's

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Shrub End

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Stanway

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Tiptree

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West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green

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No Green candidate as previous (14.8%).

West Mersea

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Wivenhoe Cross

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Wivenhoe Quay

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    By-elections

    Wivenhoe Quay

    A by-election took place on 22 April 2004 after the death of the independent councillor Richard Davies.[9]

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    No Independent (35.9%) or Green (10.4%) candidates as previous.


    References

    1. "Colchester : Hung council on election night". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 2 May 2003.
    2. "Two councillors quit Labour Party". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
    3. "Essex: Politicians set to slug it out". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 2 April 2003.
    4. "Colchester : No Labour place on council cabinet". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 7 May 2003.
    5. "BBC News Vote 2003 Local Elections". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
    6. "Colchester Borough Council Elections 1 May 2003 - Results". Colchester Borough Council. Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
    7. "Summary of the number of votes cast and turnout". Colchester Borough Council. Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
    8. "Wivenhoe: Man defends election call that cost £1, 400". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 17 March 2004.
    9. "Local Authority Byelection Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2014.

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