1984 Colchester Borough Council election

1984 Colchester Borough Council election

←  1983 5 May 1984 (1984-05-05) 1986  →
22 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	41.9% (3.0%)
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Labour Alliance Last election 35 seats, 45.9% 16 seats, 25.8% 5 seats, 25.4% Seats won 11 4 5 Seats after 34 12 10 Seat change 1 4 5 Popular vote 17,431 11,460 10,214 Percentage 42.9% 28.2% 25.1% Swing 3.0% 2.4% 0.3%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Tiptree Residents Independent Last election 3 seats, 2.9% 1 seat, 0.0% Seats won 1 0 Seats after 3 1 Seat change Popular vote 936 612 Percentage 2.3% 1.5% Swing 0.6% N/A
Winner of each seat at the 1984 Colchester Borough Council election
Council control before election Conservative Council control after election Conservative

Elections to Colchester Borough Council were held on 5 May 1984, alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom.

Summary

1984 Colchester Borough Council election [1]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Conservative	11	1	55.0	23	34	56.7	17,431	42.9	–3.0
	Labour	4	4	20.0	8	12	20.0	11,460	28.2	+2.4
	Alliance	5	5	25.0	5	10	16.7	10,214	25.1	–0.3
	Tiptree Residents	1		5.0	2	3	5.0	936	2.3	–0.6
	Independent	0		0.0	1	1	1.7	612	1.5	N/A

Ward results

Berechurch

Berechurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	John William Stevens	858	37.4	+11.0
	Labour	J. Fraser	850	37.0	−5.4
	Conservative	N. Kell	587	25.6	−5.6
Majority			8	0.3	N/A
Turnout			2,295	38.6	−1.6
Registered electors			5,938
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing	8.2

Castle

Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Cole	1,148	47.8	+1.3
	Labour	K. Taylor	863	35.0	+3.5
	Alliance	M. Sheehan	390	16.2	−5.8
Majority			285	11.9	−3.1
Turnout			2,401	47.3	−3.8
Registered electors			5,073
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	1.1

Dedham

Dedham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Cannings	506	58.4	−10.4
	Alliance	G. Williams	314	36.2	+19.8
	Labour	K. Hindle	47	5.4	−9.5
Majority			192	22.1	−30.3
Turnout			867	57.0	+7.2
Registered electors			1,520
	Conservative hold		Swing	15.1

East Donyland

East Donyland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Sanderson*	494	52.2	−5.1
	Labour	L. Shelley	232	24.5	−18.2
	Alliance	A. Stevens	221	23.3	N/A
Majority			262	27.7	+13.1
Turnout			947	62.1	+3.6
Registered electors			1,525
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.6

Harbour

Harbour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Bird*	1,200	56.1	+19.0
	Conservative	M. Coyne	502	23.5	−1.8
	Alliance	R. Puxley	438	20.5	−17.2
Majority			698	32.6	N/A
Turnout			2,140	39.5	−8.0
Registered electors			5,418
	Labour hold		Swing	10.4

Lexden

Lexden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	P. Brady	1,179	49.5	−4.5
	Conservative	A. Bryant	1,089	45.7	+3.5
	Labour	G. Rose	116	4.9	+1.0
Majority			90	3.8	−8.0
Turnout			2,384	57.2	−7.1
Registered electors			4,171
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing	4.0

Marks Tey

Marks Tey

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. James*	558	63.8	+6.5
	Labour	D. Brede	317	36.2	−6.5
Majority			241	27.5	+13.0
Turnout			875	29.5	−17.7
Registered electors			2,965
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.5

Mile End

Mile End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Borges*	919	56.5	−1.8
	Labour	S. Dick	478	29.4	+5.6
	Alliance	R. Baker	230	14.1	−3.8
Majority			441	27.1	−7.4
Turnout			1,627	41.9	−5.8
Registered electors			3,882
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.7

New Town

New Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Bob Russell*	1,617	71.8	+22.7
	Labour	D. Williams	365	16.2	−11.6
	Conservative	J. Clarke	271	12.0	−11.0
Majority			1,252	55.6	+34.3
Turnout			2,253	48.4	+0.2
Registered electors			4,656
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing	17.2

Prettygate

Prettygate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Martin Hunt	1,307	51.0	+8.3
	Conservative	G. Kent*	940	36.7	−8.6
	Labour	Chris Pearson	316	12.3	+0.3
Majority			367	14.3	N/A
Turnout			2,563	50.7	−4.1
Registered electors			5,052
	Alliance gain from Conservative		Swing	8.5

Shrub End

Shrub End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	S. Cawley	1,019	43.9	+6.5
	Labour	L. Woodrow*	1,013	43.6	+6.0
	Conservative	J. Maston	289	12.5	−12.5
Majority			6	0.3	N/A
Turnout			2,321	38.2	−0.1
Registered electors			6,074
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing	0.3

St. Andrews

St. Andrew's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	N. McLaughlin	1,314	62.5	+5.9
	Conservative	P. O'Reilly	518	24.6	−2.1
	Alliance	D. Elmer	272	12.9	−3.8
Majority			796	37.9	+8.0
Turnout			2,104	31.4	+1.8
Registered electors			6,710
	Labour hold		Swing	4.0

St. Annes

St. Anne's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Frank*	976	45.4	+7.4
	Conservative	R. Chapman	805	37.5	−7.7
	Alliance	Mike Hogg	367	17.1	+0.3
Majority			171	7.9	N/A
Turnout			2,148	50.3	+0.5
Registered electors			4,273
	Labour hold		Swing	7.6

St. Johns

St. John's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	D. Smith*	861	51.9	−9.5
	Alliance	A. Hayman	584	35.2	+10.0
	Labour	F. Rodgers	214	12.9	−0.5
Majority			277	16.7	−19.5
Turnout			1,659	34.6	−16.3
Registered electors			4,797
	Conservative hold		Swing	9.8

St. Marys

St. Mary's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Brooks	1,297	62.7	+1.2
	Labour	J. Brice	394	19.1	+3.2
	Alliance	D. Goss	377	18.2	−4.4
Majority			903	43.6	+4.7
Turnout			2,068	41.6	−4.6
Registered electors			4,970
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.0

Stanway

Stanway (2 seats due to by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. Chafer	805	51.8	−9.9
	Conservative	J. Orpen-Smellie	727	46.8	−14.9
	Alliance	C. Menzies	470	30.3	+9.4
	Alliance	W. Sandford	421	27.1	+6.2
	Labour	J. Bayles	276	17.0	−0.4
	Labour	O. Gray	247	15.9	−1.5
Turnout			1,553	35.8	−7.8
Registered electors			4,337
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Tiptree

Tiptree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tiptree Residents	T. Bird	936	51.3	−2.5
	Conservative	B. Martin	610	33.4	−1.0
	Labour	C. Kingsnorth	279	15.3	+3.4
Majority			326	17.9	+1.5
Turnout			1,825	31.0	−2.7
Registered electors			5,833
	Tiptree Residents hold		Swing	0.8

West Mersea

West Mersea (2 seats due to by-election)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Wheeler	1,323	55.1	−15.9
	Conservative	L. Leader	1,128	47.0	−24.0
	Independent	R. D'Wit	612	25.5	N/A
	Alliance	M. Livermore	270	11.2	−11.3
	Labour	K. Bayles	196	8.2	+1.7
	Labour	P. Kent	147	6.1	−0.4
Turnout			2,402	49.6	+1.0
Registered electors			4,842
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Davies	1,280	50.6	+5.1
	Conservative	M Geddes	978	38.7	−15.6
	Alliance	I. Brady	270	10.7	N/A
Majority			302	11.9	N/A
Turnout			2,528	41.5	−3.5
Registered electors			6,087
	Labour hold		Swing	10.4

By-elections

St. Andrew's

St. Andrew's by-election: 2 May 1985 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance		1,189	53.7	+40.8
	Labour		688	31.1	–31.4
	Conservative		338	15.3	–9.3
Majority			501	22.6	N/A
Turnout			2,215	44.0	+12.6
Registered electors			5,034
	Alliance hold		Swing	36.1

New Town

New Town by-election: 2 May 1985 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SDP (Alliance)		1,236	58.9	–12.9
	Labour		546	26.0	+9.8
	Conservative		316	15.1	+3.1
Majority			690	32.9	–22.7
Turnout			2,098	45.0	–3.4
Registered electors			4,662
	SDP hold		Swing	11.4

References

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