1994 Colchester Borough Council election

1994 Colchester Borough Council election

←  1992 5 May 1994 (1994-05-05) 1995  →
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	43.7% (3.9%)
First party Second party   Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 29 seats, 41.7% 21 seats, 37.6% Seats won 13 4 Seats after 33 19 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 20,941 11,349 Percentage 47.5% 25.8% Swing 5.8% 11.8%   Third party Fourth party   Party Labour Residents Last election 8 seats, 16.8% 2 seats, 2.6% Seats won 3 0 Seats after 7 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 10,744 0 Percentage 24.4% 0.0% Swing 7.6% 2.6%
Winner in each seat at the 1994 Colchester Borough Council election
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election Liberal Democrats

Elections to Colchester Borough Council took place on 5 May 1994. This was on the same day as other local elections across the United Kingdom.

At the election, the Liberal Democrats gained control of the council from no overall control, becoming the first party other than the Conservatives to control the council since its creation in 1973.

Summary

1994 Colchester Borough Council election [1]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	13	4	65.0	20	33	54.2	20,941	47.5	+5.8
	Conservative	4	2	20.0	15	19	32.2	11,349	25.8	–11.8
	Labour	3	1	15.0	4	7	11.9	10,744	24.4	+7.6
	Residents	0	1	0.0	1	1	1.7	0	0.0	–2.6
	Green	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	765	1.7	+0.3
	Independent	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	252	0.6	N/A

Ward results

Berechurch

Berechurch

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	W. Sutton	1,187	52.1	−3.2
	Labour	Paul Bishop	819	36.0	+15.1
	Conservative	N. Peckston	272	11.9	−10.9
Majority			368	16.2	−16.3
Turnout			2,278	40.0	+2.7
Registered electors			5,693
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	9.2

No Green candidate as previous (1.0%).

Birch Messing Copford

Birch Messing Copford

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Crowe*	608	50.7	−0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Una Jones	330	27.5	+4.8
	Labour	Julie Young	261	21.8	−4.5
Majority			278	23.2	−1.5
Turnout			1,199	47.2	−1.3
Registered electors			2,542
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.6

Castle

Castle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Hall*	1,362	53.0	+11.4
	Labour	J. Dodge	689	26.8	−3.3
	Conservative	J. Lucas	415	16.1	−10.1
	Green	C. Shaw	105	4.1	+2.1
Majority			673	26.2	+14.7
Turnout			2,571	47.5	+2.4
Registered electors			5,413
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	7.4

Harbour

Harbour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Patricia Blandon	1,244	50.3	−5.7
	Labour	J. Bird*	958	38.8	+14.8
	Conservative	M. Cole	206	8.3	−10.3
	Green	N. Mills	63	2.5	+1.1
Majority			286	11.6	−20.3
Turnout			2,471	42.5	+4.6
Registered electors			5,818
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	10.3

Lexden

Lexden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Trusler*	1,270	52.3	+7.2
	Conservative	Donald Hensall	980	40.4	−9.6
	Labour	L. Barrett	176	7.3	+3.2
Majority			290	12.0	N/A
Turnout			2,426	56.2	−1.0
Registered electors			4,317
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	8.4

No Green candidate as previous (0.8%).

Mile End

Mile End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	S. Ambury	1,702	49.8	+19.1
	Conservative	J. Fulford*	1,122	32.8	−23.4
	Labour	Kim Naish	499	14.6	+3.7
	Green	B. Smith	93	2.7	+0.5
Majority			580	17.0	N/A
Turnout			3,416	42.4	+6.2
Registered electors			8,064
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	21.3

New Town

New Town

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Russell*	1,615	66.8	+8.4
	Labour	S. Pygott	587	24.3	−0.9
	Conservative	D. McBean	132	5.5	−7.9
	Green	P. Wareham	85	3.5	+0.5
Majority			1,028	42.5	+9.2
Turnout			2,419	46.5	+5.8
Registered electors			5,207
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.7

Prettygate

Prettygate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	David Goss*	1,858	65.4	+10.1
	Conservative	Ron Levy	601	21.2	−15.0
	Labour	T. Pearson	339	11.9	+4.1
	Green	D. Smith	43	1.5	+0.9
Majority			1,257	44.2	+25.1
Turnout			2,841	48.7	−0.7
Registered electors			5,830
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	12.6

Pyefleet

Pyefleet

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Lord	449	46.6	−6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Justin Knight	385	39.9	−6.7
	Labour	S. Manning-Press	96	10.0	N/A
	Green	Walter Schwarz	34	3.5	N/A
Majority			64	6.6	−0.2
Turnout			962	52.2	−5.3
Registered electors			1,846
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.1

Shrub End

Shrub End

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	W. Sandford	799	54.4	−16.9
	Labour	Frank Wilkin	482	32.8	N/A
	Conservative	S. Wilson	189	12.9	−15.4
Majority			317	21.6	−21.0
Turnout			1,470	27.8	+4.6
Registered electors			5,293
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	N/A

St. Andrew's

St. Andrew's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Prosser	846	52.7	+12.8
	Liberal Democrats	J. Gary	588	36.6	+7.5
	Conservative	E. Winney	134	8.3	−16.6
	Green	S. Kelly	37	2.3	−3.8
Majority			258	16.1	N/A
Turnout			1,605	30.1	+5.4
Registered electors			5,329
	Labour hold		Swing	2.7

St. Anne's

St. Anne's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	J. Gamble	1,208	46.8	+0.5
	Labour	Mary Frank*	1,180	45.7	+9.5
	Conservative	N. Elcombe	193	7.5	−8.9
Majority			28	1.1	−9.0
Turnout			2,581	46.0	+8.6
Registered electors			5,614
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	4.5

No Green candidate as previous (1.1%).

St. John's

St. John's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	J. Barker*	1,668	64.3	+9.5
	Conservative	N. Taylor	605	23.3	−13.5
	Labour	T. Pringle	322	12.4	+6.7
Majority			1,063	41.0	N/A
Turnout			2,595	46.1	+1.0
Registered electors			5,635
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	11.5

No Green candidate as previous (2.8%).

St. Mary's

St. Mary's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Silverwood-Cope	1,116	45.2	−3.7
	Conservative	R. Spendlove*	735	29.8	−10.5
	Labour	Maureen Lee	309	12.5	+3.4
	Independent	R. Hudson	252	10.2	N/A
	Green	J. Hebbern	55	2.2	+0.5
Majority			381	15.4	+6.7
Turnout			2,467	48.7	+2.6
Registered electors			5,069
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing	3.4

Stanway

Stanway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	J. Ellis	1,489	58.5	+1.8
	Conservative	Ian McCord	691	27.1	−8.0
	Labour	E. Plowright	366	14.4	+6.2
Majority			798	31.3	+9.7
Turnout			2,546	44.0	+2.9
Registered electors			5,791
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.9

Tiptree

Tiptree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	N. Holland	879	34.8	+24.2
	Conservative	M. Hope	830	32.8	−10.3
	Liberal Democrats	A. Seaman	717	28.4	N/A
	Green	V. Bannister	101	4.0	N/A
Majority			49	1.9	N/A
Turnout			2,527	41.7	+1.8
Registered electors			6,057
	Labour gain from Residents		Swing	17.3

No Tiptree Residents candidate as previous (46.3%).

West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green

West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	S. Baldwin*	1,092	61.1	+18.7
	Conservative	Elizabeth Blundell	516	28.9	−18.7
	Labour	M. Nice	178	10.0	±0.0
Majority			576	32.3	N/A
Turnout			1,786	48.1	−3.9
Registered electors			3,715
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	18.7

West Mersea

West Mersea

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Kimberley*	1,032	51.3	−23.9
	Liberal Democrats	J. Pipe	640	31.8	+14.2
	Labour	Alison Inman	340	16.9	+9.7
Majority			392	19.5	−38.1
Turnout			2,012	36.3	+2.7
Registered electors			5,547
	Conservative hold		Swing	19.1

Winstree

Winstree

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. Fairhead*	696	64.3	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats	A. Burgess	297	27.4	−7.3
	Labour	J. Coombes	89	8.2	N/A
Majority			399	36.9	+6.3
Turnout			1,082	59.6	+3.8
Registered electors			1,817
	Conservative hold		Swing	3.2

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Richardson*	1,329	47.5	+14.0
	Conservative	J. Woodcock	943	33.7	−14.8
	Liberal Democrats	I. O'Mahoney	374	13.4	±0.0
	Green	P. Samphire	149	5.3	+0.6
Majority			386	13.8	N/A
Turnout			2,795	44.4	+5.9
Registered electors			6,298
	Labour hold		Swing	14.4

By-elections

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe by-election: 6 October 1994 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		709	47.2	–0.3
	Conservative		626	41.6	+8.0
	Liberal Democrats		131	8.7	–4.7
	Green		37	2.5	–2.8
Majority			83	5.6	–8.2
Turnout			1,503	23.9	–20.5
Registered electors			6,289
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	4.2

Great & Little Horkesley

Great & Little Horkesley by-election: 6 October 1994 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		368	57.9	+41.2
	Conservative		237	37.3	–22.9
	Green		31	4.9	N/A
Majority			131	20.6	N/A
Turnout			636	35.4	–16.6
Registered electors			1,797
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	32.1

Shrub End

Shrub End by-election: 6 October 1994 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		458	48.1	+15.3
	Liberal Democrats		406	42.6	–11.8
	Conservative		81	8.5	–4.4
	Green		8	0.8	N/A
Majority			52	5.5	N/A
Turnout			953	18.0	–9.8
Registered electors			5,294
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	13.6

References

1. "Colchester Borough Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF). Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
2. "By-elections". Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher . The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026. Retrieved 18 January 2026.