1996 Colchester Borough Council election

1996 Colchester Borough Council election

← 1995 2 May 1996 (1996-05-02) 1998 →
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	38.1% (1.5%)
First party Second party   Party Liberal Democrats Labour Last election 33 seats, 37.8% 12 seats, 36.1% Seats won 10 5 Seats after 32 16 Seat change 1 4 Popular vote 15,202 13,001 Percentage 39.9% 34.2% Swing 2.1% 1.9%   Third party Fourth party   Party Conservative Tiptree Residents Last election 14 seats, 25.3% 1 seat, 0.0% Seats won 4 1 Seats after 11 1 Seat change 3 Popular vote 8,577 1,085 Percentage 22.5% 2.9% Swing 2.8% N/A
Winner in each seat at the 1996 Colchester Borough Council election
Council control before election Liberal Democrats Council control after election Liberal Democrats

Elections to Colchester Borough Council took place on 2 May 1996. They were held on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom.

At the election, the Liberal Democrats maintained their majority on the council. The Labour Party made a net gain of 4 seats to displace the Conservatives as the official opposition. This is the first time since the 1984 election that the Labour Party has held the official opposition.

1996 Colchester Borough Council election[1]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	10	1	50.0	22	32	53.3	15,202	39.9	+2.1
	Labour	5	4	25.0	11	16	26.7	13,001	34.2	–1.9
	Conservative	4	3	20.0	7	11	18.3	8,577	22.5	–2.8
	Tiptree Residents	1		5.0	0	1	1.7	1,085	2.9	N/A
	Ind. Conservative	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	174	0.5	N/A
	Natural Law	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	22	0.1	N/A

Berechurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	John William Stevens*	1,231	50.1	+1.7
	Labour	O. Bishop	1,047	42.6	−1.7
	Conservative	N. Peckston	180	7.3	±0.0
Majority			184	7.5	+3.4
Turnout			2,458	43.2	+1.2
Registered electors			5,700
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	1.7

Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	William Spyvee*	1,076	45.6	+10.4
	Labour	J. Thomas	895	37.9	−8.4
	Conservative	J. Lucas	366	15.5	−0.2
	Natural Law	J. Basker	22	0.9	+0.1
Majority			181	7.7	N/A
Turnout			2,359	41.6	−2.4
Registered electors			5,679
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	9.4

No Green candidate as previous (2.0%).

Dedham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	G. Williams*	531	57.9	+3.7
	Conservative	W. Scattergood	318	34.7	−8.5
	Labour	Dave Harris	68	7.4	+4.8
Majority			213	23.2	+12.2
Turnout			917	59.4	−1.6
Registered electors			1,550
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	6.1

East Donyland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tina Cooke	402	48.4	+10.2
	Liberal Democrats	Barry Woodward	245	29.5	+13.6
	Conservative	V. Watson	149	17.9	−26.7
	Ind. Conservative	D. Newman	35	4.2	N/A
Majority			157	18.9	N/A
Turnout			831	47.8	−10.9
Registered electors			1,738
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	1.7

Fordham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Cannon*	365	48.4	−10.1
	Liberal Democrats	R. Tyrrell	231	30.6	+1.9
	Labour	J. Coombes	145	19.2	+6.4
	Ind. Conservative	K. Roberts	13	1.7	N/A
Majority			134	17.8	−12.0
Turnout			754	51.7	−2.6
Registered electors			1,465
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.0

Harbour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Edna Fowler*	1,219	53.0	+18.6
	Labour	S. Webb	906	39.4	−16.4
	Conservative	Mike Coyne	176	7.6	−2.2
Majority			313	13.6	N/A
Turnout			2,301	37.8	−2.2
Registered electors			6,088
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	17.5

No Green candidate as previous (1.4%).

Lexden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sonia Lewis*	1,098	48.3	+8.7
	Liberal Democrats	B. Trusler	935	41.2	−6.9
	Labour	P. Creasy	210	9.2	−3.1
	Ind. Conservative	I. Juliff	29	1.3	N/A
Majority			163	7.2	N/A
Turnout			2,272	52.5	+1.5
Registered electors			4,337
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.8

Marks Tey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Gower*	312	34.7	−16.5
	Labour	T. Rogers	285	31.7	+14.2
	Liberal Democrats	G. Ambridge	275	30.6	−0.7
	Ind. Conservative	G. Francis	27	3.0	N/A
Majority			27	3.0	−16.9
Turnout			899	44.3	+1.5
Registered electors			2,028
	Conservative hold		Swing	15.4

Mile End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lucy Wood	1,089	37.0	+1.1
	Conservative	P. Borges*	900	30.5	−0.9
	Liberal Democrats	G. Folkard	887	30.1	−0.7
	Ind. Conservative	D. Pallett	70	2.4	N/A
Majority			189	6.4	+1.9
Turnout			2,946	33.2	−2.8
Registered electors			8,875
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	1.0

New Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Stevens*	1,178	62.7	+3.8
	Labour	C. Tighe	576	30.6	−2.8
	Conservative	J. Girdlestone	126	6.7	+1.5
Majority			602	32.0	+6.5
Turnout			1,880	36.8	−4.2
Registered electors			5,112
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	5.2

No Green candidate as previous (2.5%).

Prettygate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Hunt	1,164	48.3	−1.0
	Labour	F. Somerville	629	26.1	−0.5
	Conservative	Ron Levy	615	25.5	+1.4
Majority			535	22.2	−0.5
Turnout			2,408	40.6	−1.4
Registered electors			5,904
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.3

Shrub End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Steve Cawley*	687	49.8	+7.4
	Labour	A. Frost	529	38.4	−8.4
	Conservative	R. Bunn	163	11.8	+1.0
Majority			158	11.5	N/A
Turnout			1,379	28.7	−0.3
Registered electors			4,806
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	7.9

St. Andrew's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Newman	776	61.0	−6.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Gray	388	30.5	+3.5
	Conservative	D. Smith	109	8.6	+2.8
Majority			388	30.5	−9.7
Turnout			1,273	23.6	−7.4
Registered electors			5,397
	Labour hold		Swing	4.9

St. Anne's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Frank	1,124	50.7	+6.1
	Liberal Democrats	J. Fellows*	937	42.2	−6.8
	Conservative	M. Miller	157	7.1	+0.7
Majority			187	8.4	N/A
Turnout			2,218	40.1	−0.9
Registered electors			5,534
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	6.5

St. John's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ray Gamble*	1,324	59.8	+9.5
	Conservative	N. Taylor	538	24.3	−1.3
	Labour	John Cooke	353	15.9	−8.2
Majority			786	35.5	+10.8
Turnout			2,215	38.9	−0.1
Registered electors			5,697
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	5.4

St. Mary's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	J. Kirchner	983	45.8	+2.5
	Conservative	R. Pawsey	718	33.4	+1.2
	Labour	K. Hindle	447	20.8	−3.7
Majority			265	12.3	+1.2
Turnout			2,148	43.2	+0.2
Registered electors			5,047
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.8

Stanway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Sykes*	1,100	53.9	+0.3
	Labour	Julie Young	535	26.2	+1.7
	Conservative	J. Orpen-Smellie	405	19.9	−2.0
Majority			565	27.7	−1.4
Turnout			2,040	34.4	−1.6
Registered electors			5,936
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.7

West Mersea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Jowers*	1,089	54.9	−6.0
	Liberal Democrats	M. Hargreaves	458	23.1	+8.5
	Labour	Alan Mogridge	436	22.0	−2.5
Majority			631	31.8	−4.5
Turnout			1,983	35.5	+1.5
Registered electors			5,634
	Conservative hold		Swing	7.3

Wivenhoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Prosser*	1,235	58.8	+2.7
	Conservative	P. Osbourne	583	27.8	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	P. Gentry	282	13.4	+4.5
Majority			652	31.0	+5.9
Turnout			2,100	34.1	−4.9
Registered electors			6,127
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	2.9

No Green candidate as previous (4.1%).

Dedham: 4 September 1997^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		374	45.8	+11.1
	Liberal Democrats		352	43.1	−14.8
	Labour		91	11.1	+3.7
Majority			22	2.7	N/A
Turnout			817	51.9	−7.5
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	13.0