1982 Colchester Borough Council election

1982 Colchester Borough Council election

←  1980 1983  →
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	43.0% (1.0%)
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Labour Tiptree Residents Last election 35 seats, 45.0% 22 seats, 41.1% 2 seats, 3.0% Seats won 11 5 1 Seats after 35 19 3 Seat change 3 1 Popular vote 18,499 10,106 1,170 Percentage 45.0% 24.6% 2.8% Swing 0.3% 16.5% 0.2%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Alliance Independent Last election 0 seats, 8.7% 1 seat, 2.4% Seats won 2 1 Seats after 2 1 Seat change 2 Popular vote 10,301 1,010 Percentage 25.1% 2.5% Swing 16.4% 0.1%
Winner of each seat at the 1982 Colchester Borough Council election
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election Conservative

Elections to Colchester Borough Council took place in 1982 alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom.

This was the first Colchester local election to be contested by the newly formed SDP-Liberal Alliance.

Summary

1982 Colchester Borough Council election [1]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	11		55.0	24	35	58.3	18.499	45.0	+0.3
	Labour	5	3	25.0	14	19	31.7	10,106	24.6	–16.5
	Tiptree Residents	1	1	5.0	2	3	5.0	1,170	2.8	–0.2
	Alliance	2	2	10.0	0	2	3.3	10,301	25.1	+16.4
	Independent	1		5.0	0	1	1.7	1,010	2.5	+0.1
	Ecology	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	32	0.1	N/A

Ward results

Berechurch

Berechurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. McQuilty*	940	44.3	−2.7
	Conservative	A. Keenlyside	614	28.9	+5.0
	Alliance	H. Anderson	569	26.8	−3.3
Majority			326	15.4	−0.5
Turnout			2,123	36.9	−1.3
Registered electors			5,747
	Labour hold		Swing	3.9

Birch-Messing

Birch-Messing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	T. Wayman*	506	76.1	N/A
	Alliance	D. Calthorpe	114	17.1	N/A
	Labour	T. Morecroft	45	8.6	N/A
Majority			392	58.9	N/A
Turnout			665	50.8	N/A
Registered electors			1,309
	Independent hold		Swing	N/A

Boxted & Langham

Boxted & Langham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Garnett	617	63.1	+0.1
	Alliance	M. Bearman	286	29.2	N/A
	Labour	J. Church	75	7.7	−29.3
Majority			331	33.8	+7.8
Turnout			978	54.6	−2.4
Registered electors			1,790
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Castle

Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ken Cooke*	907	38.3	−6.7
	Conservative	E. Humphreys	881	37.2	−4.0
	Alliance	William Spyvee	579	24.5	+10.7
Majority			26	1.1	−2.7
Turnout			2,367	46.8	+5.5
Registered electors			5,058
	Labour hold		Swing	1.4

Harbour

Harbour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rod Green*	1,052	42.6	−20.5
	Alliance	R. Puxley	750	30.4	N/A
	Conservative	M. Coyne	667	27.0	−9.9
Majority			302	12.2	−13.9
Turnout			2,469	46.2	+2.4
Registered electors			5,349
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Lexden

Lexden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Holt*	1,364	55.3	−9.5
	Alliance	H. Brooks	948	38.4	+16.5
	Labour	A. Sullivan	123	5.0	−7.9
	Ecology	O. Gray	32	1.3	N/A
Majority			416	16.9	−25.6
Turnout			2,467	60.8	+9.4
Registered electors			4,056
	Conservative hold		Swing	13.0

Mile End

Mile End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Fulford*	854	51.0	−6.2
	Labour	Tim Oxton	519	31.0	−11.7
	Alliance	M. Wilson	301	18.0	N/A
Majority			335	20.0	+5.4
Turnout			1,674	43.4	−4.0
Registered electors			3,857
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.8

New Town

New Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	R. Evans	1,146	52.5	+41.5
	Labour	Jim Orpe*	605	27.7	−40.6
	Conservative	J. Clarke	433	19.8	−0.9
Majority			541	24.8	N/A
Turnout			2,184	46.6	+2.9
Registered electors			4,683
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing	41.1

Prettygate

Prettygate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Purvis*	1,131	46.0	−7.6
	Alliance	Martin Hunt	915	37.2	+21.7
	Labour	Chris Pearson	414	16.8	−14.1
Majority			216	8.8	−13.9
Turnout			2,460	49.3	+4.1
Registered electors			4,987
	Conservative hold		Swing	14.7

Shrub End

Shrub End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	G. Daldry	871	40.7	+27.7
	Labour	E. Plowright*	797	37.2	−20.9
	Conservative	A. Stevenson	473	22.1	−6.8
Majority			74	3.5	N/A
Turnout			2,141	36.3	+3.2
Registered electors			5,890
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing	24.3

St. Andrew's

St. Andrew's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Bober*	1,262	54.5	−16.4
	Alliance	P. Baker	535	23.1	+14.7
	Conservative	E. Sinclair	517	22.3	+1.7
Majority			727	31.4	−18.9
Turnout			2,314	28.5	+0.9
Registered electors			8,115
	Labour hold		Swing	15.6

St. Anne's

St. Anne's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Marchant*	843	39.9	−18.4
	Conservative	L. Wynne	744	35.2	−6.5
	Alliance	W. Ladbrook	527	24.9	N/A
Majority			99	4.7	−11.9
Turnout			2,114	45.1	−0.7
Registered electors			4,690
	Labour hold		Swing	6.0

St. John's

St. John's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Roots	994	60.5	−3.8
	Alliance	J. Hughes	380	23.1	N/A
	Labour	R. Crookes	270	16.4	−19.3
Majority			614	37.3	+8.7
Turnout			1,644	45.7	+2.1
Registered electors			3,596
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

St. Mary's

St. Mary's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Nigel Chapman	1,273	57.1	−7.7
	Alliance	W. Sandford	635	28.5	+11.9
	Labour	C. Graves	322	14.4	−6.2
Majority			638	28.6	−16.6
Turnout			2,230	44.4	+0.4
Registered electors			5,019
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.8

Stanway

Stanway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. Gawthrop	863	49.3	−2.1
	Alliance	R. Wilson	550	31.4	+22.0
	Labour	K. Taylor	337	19.3	−19.9
Majority			313	17.9	+5.7
Turnout			1,750	43.7	+0.9
Registered electors			4,003
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.1

Tiptree

Tiptree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tiptree Residents	J. Elliott	860	44.2	−7.4
	Conservative	R. Martin*	676	34.7	−1.5
	Labour	S. Simmonds	411	21.1	+8.8
Majority			184	9.5	−5.9
Turnout			1,947	33.7	−1.0
Registered electors			5,779
	Tiptree Residents gain from Conservative		Swing	3.0

West Bergholt

West Bergholt

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Lampon*	609	63.2	−18.9
	Alliance	M. Bayliss	250	25.9	N/A
	Labour	J. Pearsall	105	10.9	−7.0
Majority			359	37.2	−27.0
Turnout			964	43.3	−4.1
Registered electors			2,226
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

West Mersea

West Mersea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	G. Roberts	1,218	63.2	−2.9
	Alliance	W. Packard	609	31.6	N/A
	Labour	L. Shelley	100	5.2	−3.6
Majority			695	31.6	+9.4
Turnout			1,927	41.8	+3.4
Registered electors			4,609
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Winstree

Winstree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Fairhead*	796	72.5	−6.9
	Alliance	P. Treacher	232	21.1	N/A
	Labour	L. Shelley	100	5.2	−15.4
Majority			564	51.4	−7.3
Turnout			1,128	54.5	+0.1
Registered electors			2,015
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	P. Roots	1,063	42.9	+3.9
	Labour	J. Bayles*	909	36.7	−9.3
	Independent	D. Staple	504	20.4	N/A
Majority			154	6.2	N/A
Turnout			2,476	43.4	−7.4
Registered electors			5,701
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	6.6

By-elections

St. Anne's

St Annes by-election: 14 April 1983 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		897	40.4	+5.2
	Labour		821	37.0	–2.9
	SDP (Alliance)		503	22.6	–2.3
Majority			76	3.4	N/A
Turnout			2,221
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	4.1

References

1. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "Colchester Borough Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). Elections Centre. Plymouth University. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
2. "By-elections". Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher. The Elections Centre, Plymouth University . Retrieved 27 April 2025.