1973 Colchester Borough Council election

The 1973 Colchester Borough Council election were the first elections to the newly created Colchester Borough Council. They took place on 7 June 1973. This was on the same day as other local elections. The Local Government Act 1972 stipulated that the elected members were to shadow and eventually take over from the predecessor corporation on 1 April 1974.

Summary

1973 Colchester Borough Council election ^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	28	N/A	N/A	N/A	46.7	43.1	39,985	N/A
	Labour	26	N/A	N/A	N/A	43.3	44.4	41,266	N/A
	Residents	3	N/A	N/A	N/A	5.0	0.7	689	N/A
	Independent	2	N/A	N/A	N/A	3.3	5.4	5,020	N/A
	Liberal	1	N/A	N/A	N/A	1.7	6.4	5,914	N/A

Ward results

Birch-Messing

Birch-Messing (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. Round	362	41.9
	Liberal	P. Leggett	352	40.7
	Labour	M. Dixon	150	17.4
Majority			10	1.2
Turnout			864	70.8
Registered electors			1,220
	Conservative win (new seat)

Boxted & Langham

Boxted & Langham (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A. Sexton	542	71.2
	Labour	J. Goldsborough	111	14.6
	Independent	J. Slatter	108	14.2
Majority			431	56.6
Turnout			761	47.3
Registered electors			1,609
	Conservative win (new seat)

Copford & Eight Ash Green

Copford & Eight Ash Green (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A. Wilde	422	62.2
	Labour	M. Fraser	120	17.7
	Independent	J. Charnock	89	13.1
	Liberal	D. Wood	47	6.9
Majority			302	44.5
Turnout			678	39.6
Registered electors			1,714
	Conservative win (new seat)

Dedham

Dedham (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. Jackson	413	52.3
	Independent	B. Marsh	212	26.8
	Liberal	J. Mead	136	17.2
	Labour	A. Smith	29	3.7
Majority			201	25.4
Turnout			790	58.5
Registered electors			1,350
	Conservative win (new seat)

East Donyland

East Donyland (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. Sanderson	341	50.3
	Labour	Edward Lilley	337	49.7
Majority			4	0.6
Turnout			678	56.6
Registered electors			1,198
	Conservative win (new seat)

Fordham

Fordham (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Marshall Forest	263	37.6
	Conservative	G. Penrose	263	37.6
	Labour	P. Mason	174	24.9
Majority			0	0.0
Turnout			700	54.1
Registered electors			1,294
	Independent win (new seat)

Great & Little Horkesley

Great & Little Horkesley (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	K. Knighton	415	71.2
	Independent	A. Linscott	101	17.3
	Labour	D. Brown	67	11.5
Majority			314	53.9
Turnout			583	45.9
Registered electors			1,271
	Conservative win (new seat)

Marks Tey

Marks Tey (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R. Browning	475	68.6
	Conservative	E. James	474	68.5
	Labour	H. Teagle	218	31.5
	Labour	W. Leach	92	13.3
Turnout			692	53.5
Registered electors			1,293
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

No. 1 (Colchester: Berechurch)

No. 1 (Colchester: Berechurch) (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	C. Howe	835	40.8
	Liberal	M. Gage	770	37.6
	Labour	B. Ladbrook	746	36.4
	Labour	R. Boyles	694	33.9
	Labour	J. Orpe	629	30.7
	Conservative	V. Worth	445	21.7
Turnout			2,048	38.0
Registered electors			5,390
	Labour win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

No. 2 (Colchester: Castle)

No. 2 (Colchester: Castle) (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	C. Robb	1,037	44.4
	Labour	G. Sheward	836	35.8
	Labour	S. Wills	829	35.5
	Conservative	D. Lamberth	762	32.6
	Conservative	F. Clater	668	28.6
	Conservative	T. White	645	27.6
	Independent	A. Williams	539	23.1
Turnout			2,338	56.7
Registered electors			4,124
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

No. 3 (Colchester: Harbour)

No. 3 (Colchester: Harbour) (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Bird	1,244	58.2
	Labour	B. Evans	1,180	55.2
	Labour	C. Parmenter	1,151	53.8
	Conservative	A. Parsonson	896	41.9
	Conservative	B. Nicholls	831	38.8
	Conservative	F. Palmer	824	38.5
Turnout			2,139	47.0
Registered electors			4,551
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

No. 4 (Colchester: Lexden)

No. 4 (Colchester: Lexden) (5 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R. Wheeler	1,915	45.6
	Conservative	C. Blaxill	1,907	45.4
	Conservative	D. Holt	1,824	43.4
	Conservative	C. Sergeant	1,769	42.1
	Conservative	T. Wilson	1,650	39.3
	Liberal	E. Blank	888	21.1
	Labour	D. Hughes	781	18.6
	Labour	A. Gould	734	17.5
	Labour	J. Wolton	732	17.4
	Labour	M. Pease	699	16.6
	Independent	C. Meadows	618	14.7
Turnout			4,201	61.5
Registered electors			6,830
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

No. 5 (Colchester: Mile End)

No. 5 (Colchester: Mile End) (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. Fulford	1,010	55.5
	Conservative	R. Fulford	1,007	55.4
	Conservative	D. Blackmore	924	50.8
	Labour	W. Buckingham	809	44.5
	Labour	B. White	725	39.9
	Labour	L. Rober	706	38.8
Turnout			1,819	51.8
Registered electors			3,511
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

No. 6 (Colchester: New Town)

No. 6 (Colchester: New Town) (3 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Bensusan-Butt	1,151	48.8
	Labour	Bob Russell	1,148	48.7
	Labour	D. Williams	1,040	44.1
	Liberal	T. Brady	708	30.0
	Conservative	V. Gawthrop	498	21.1
Turnout			2,358	49.3
Registered electors			4,783
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

No. 7 (Colchester: St. John's)

No. 7 (Colchester: St. John's) (8 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Graham Bober	2,114	46.1
	Labour	P. Edwards	2,009	43.8
	Labour	D. Braddy	2,008	43.8
	Labour	R. Buxton	2,002	43.7
	Labour	G. Cooper	1,998	43.6
	Labour	B. Ready	1,976	43.1
	Labour	L. French	1,940	42.3
	Conservative	B. Falk	1,538	33.5
	Conservative	J. Pinnock	1,489	32.5
	Conservative	J. Gray	1,460	31.8
	Conservative	S. Giffard	1,449	31.6
	Conservative	R. Addison	1,445	31.5
	Labour	M. Frank	1,032	22.5
	Liberal	Y. Holly	936	20.4
Turnout			4,585	38.9
Registered electors			11,787
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

No. 8 (Colchester: St. Mary's)

No. 8 (Colchester: St. Mary's) (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. Brooks	1,398	54.6
	Conservative	P. Spendlove	1,320	51.6
	Conservative	R. Hilliam	1,293	50.5
	Conservative	B. Graver	1,223	47.8
	Liberal	R. Tuxford	627	24.5
	Labour	B. Brett	535	20.9
	Labour	T. Barker	528	20.6
Turnout			2,559	51.9
Registered electors			4,931
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

No. 9 (Colchester: Shrub End)

No. 9 (Colchester: Shrub End) (4 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	I. Woodrow	1,009	32.8
	Labour	E. Plowright	920	29.9
	Labour	Frank Wilkin	893	29.0
	Labour	I. Brown	891	28.9
	Independent	J. Williams	798	25.9
	Conservative	D. Purvis	683	22.2
	Conservative	G. White	663	21.5
	Conservative	G. Roberts	610	19.8
	Liberal	M. Livermore	585	19.0
Turnout			3,078	49.2
Registered electors			6,256
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

No. 23 (Tiptree: Church)

No. 23 (Tiptree: Church) (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Residents	A. Garrod	224	37.3
	Conservative	C. Cansdale	195	32.4
	Labour	A. Lines	182	30.3
Majority			29	4.8
Turnout			601	36.5
Registered electors			1,648
	Residents win (new seat)

No. 24 (Tiptree: Heath)

No. 24 (Tiptree: Heath) (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Residents	K. Brown	222	58.3
	Independent	R. Keeble	95	24.9
	Labour	G. Sollis	64	16.8
Majority			127	33.3
Turnout			381	35.4
Registered electors			1,076
	Residents win (new seat)

No. 25 (Tiptree: Maypole)

No. 25 (Tiptree: Maypole) (1 seat)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Residents	T. Webb	243	38.1
	Labour	H. Jones	195	30.6
	Conservative	H. Pierce	126	19.8
	Independent	R. Martin	73	11.5
Majority			48	7.5
Turnout			637	30.9
Registered electors			2,060
	Residents win (new seat)

Pyefleet

Pyefleet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	K. Ward	387	70.5
	Labour	P. Treacher	162	29.5
Majority			225	41.0
Turnout			549	36.6
Registered electors			1,500
	Conservative win (new seat)

Stanway

Stanway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	T. Kirkby	581	33.3
	Labour	J. Knight	554	31.8
	Conservative	T. Holloway	534	30.6
	Conservative	E. Ayden	484	27.8
	Liberal	P. Leggett	352	20.2
	Independent	S. Duggan	274	15.7
Turnout			1,743	49.3
Registered electors			3,535
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

West Bergholt

West Bergholt

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. Lampon	517	66.5
	Labour	G. Hurst	159	20.5
	Independent	A. Linscott	101	13.0
Majority			358	46.1
Turnout			777	45.4
Registered electors			1,713
	Conservative win (new seat)

West Mersea

West Mersea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A. Gray	820	31.1
	Independent	J. Williams	798	30.2
	Conservative	G. Roberts	610	23.1
	Liberal	T. Wargent	513	19.4
	Labour	L. Haines	510	19.3
	Conservative	R. D'Wit	459	17.4
	Independent	A. Smith	356	13.5
	Independent	E. Vince	354	13.4
	Independent	C. Smith	241	9.1
Turnout			2,640	69.1
Registered electors			3,821
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Winstree

Winstree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R. Faulds	588	60.4
	Labour	Ken Cooke	235	24.1
	Liberal	A. Watkins	151	15.5
Majority			353	36.2
Turnout			974	67.1
Registered electors			1,452
	Conservative win (new seat)

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D. Wilkinson	782	42.0
	Labour	K. Coldwell	597	32.1
	Conservative	B. Grasby	584	31.4
	Labour	B. Mundell	576	31.0
	Labour	J. Greenman	573	30.8
	Conservative	S. Croucher	571	30.7
	Independent	N. Butler	482	25.9
Turnout			1,861	48.8
Registered electors			3,813
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

1. "Colchester Borough Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. Retrieved 16 December 2022.