Colchester Borough Council election, 2003

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.

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]

Background

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 after the sitting Labour councillor moved to Scotland.^[2] The council was run by a cabinet comprising 3 Conservatives, 3 Liberal Democrats and 1 Labour members.^[3]

21 seats were being contested, with 2 seats available in Wivenhoe Cross due to the vacancy.^[2] 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.^[2] Meanwhile in High Woods, Ian Ringer, defended the seat as an independent after leaving the Liberal Democrats earlier in 2003.^[2]

Election result

No party gained a majority on the council, but the Liberal Democrats picked up 2 seats to have 25 councillors, compared to 24 for the Conservatives.^[1] Labour stayed on 5 seats, after Richard Bourne gained a seat in Shrub End for the party,^[4] but they also lost a seat in Wivenhoe Cross,^[5] while the remaining seats were held by independents.^[1] Overall turnout at the election was 27.8%.^[6]

Following the election Bob Newman left the Labour group to sit as an independent, reducing Labour to 4 councillors.^[7][3] Labour then went into opposition after refusing to work with the Conservatives and a new cabinet was formed with 4 Conservative and 4 Liberal Democrat members.^[3]

Council composition

The composition of the council before the election and a summary of which parties' seats were up for election can be found in the following table:^[8]

Ward results

Shown below are ward results according to the council's election results archive.^[9][5][6]

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).

By-elections between 2003 and 2004

A by-election took place on 22 April 2004 after the death of the independent councillor Richard Davies.^[10]

References

Council elections in Essex Essex County Council 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 Basildon Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Braintree District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Brentwood Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Castle Point Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Chelmsford City Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Colchester Borough Council 1973 1976 1978 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 2016 Epping Forest District Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Harlow District Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Maldon District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Rochford District Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Southend-on-Sea Borough Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Tendring District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Thurrock Council 1973 1976 1979 1980 1982 1983 1984 1986 1987 1988 1990 1991 1992 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2014 2015 Uttlesford District Council 1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 See also: Wards Boundary changes

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