The 2006 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2006 to elect members of Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.^[1]

Quick Facts 20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

2006 Colchester Borough Council election

← 2004 4 May 2006 (2006-05-04) 2007 →
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	36.4% (2.4%)
First party Second party   Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Last election 28 seats, 40.9% 23 seats, 34.2% Seats before 28 22 Seats won 10 6 Seats after 30 21 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 13,951 12,119 Percentage 38.9% 33.8% Swing 2.0% 0.4%   Third party Fourth party   Party Labour Independent Last election 6 seats, 18.2% 3 seats, 6.7% Seats before 7 3 Seats won 1 1 Seats after 7 2 Seat change 1 Popular vote 4,754 1,986 Percentage 13.3% 5.5% Swing 4.9% 1.2%
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control

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After the election, the composition of the council was

• Conservative 30
• Liberal Democrats 21
• Labour 7
• Independent 2^[2]

Before the election the Conservatives had run the council since the 2004 election and had 28 of the 60 seats on the council.^[3] The Liberal Democrats had 22 seats, Labour had 7 seats and there were 3 independents.^[3]

20 seats were contested at the election, with the councillors who were defending seats including the Conservative leader of the council, John Jowers, the mayor Terry Sutton and the Liberal Democrat group leader, Colin Sykes.^[3] However the Conservatives did not have a candidate in New Town ward due to an error on their candidate's nomination papers.^[4] As well as the parties who were defending seats on the council, the Green Party contested every seat for the first time and particularly targeted Castle ward.^[3] Independents who stood included Gerard Oxford in Highwoods ward, who was defending a seat he had won as a Liberal Democrat before leaving the party.^[3]

A major issue at the election was the relocation of the bus station to a temporary site, while a new bus station was being built at a new shopping centre.^[3] Meanwhile, a Visual Arts Facility (VAF) was being built on the old bus station site.^[3] 6 independents stood at the election as part of a Save Our Bus Station Campaign opposing the move, with the Labour party also opposing the building of the VAF on the old bus station site.^[3] However the Conservatives said the temporary bus station site would be better than the old site.^[3]

Both the Liberal Democrats and Greens called for more recycling, while the Liberal Democrat and Labour parties called for action on street cleaning.^[3] The Conservatives meanwhile defending their record in power, pointing to a number of new projects being started including a planned new community stadium.^[3]

The Conservatives made a net gain of 2 seats to have half of the seats on the council with 30 councillors, just falling short of winning a majority.^[5] Conservative gains included defeating the Liberal Democrat group leader Colin Sykes, with the Liberal Democrats falling to 21 seats.^[5] Labour remained on 7 seats after holding the only seat they had been defending, but polled less than the Greens in a number of wards.^[5] Overall turnout at the election was 36.4%.^[6]

More information Party, This election ...

2006 Colchester Borough Council election[1][6]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	10	2	50.0	20	30	50.0	13,951	38.9	–2.0
	Liberal Democrats	8	1	40.0	13	21	36.7	12,119	33.8	–0.4
	Labour	1		5.0	6	7	10.0	4,754	13.3	–4.9
	Independent	1	1	5.0	1	2	3.3	1,986	5.5	–1.2
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	3,061	8.5	N/A

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