2000 Colchester Borough Council election

2000 Colchester Borough Council

← 1999 4 May 2000 (2000-05-04) 2002  →
20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	29.7% (1.0%)
First party Second party   Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Last election 26 seats, 36.9% 17 seats, 32.5% Seats won 6 9 Seats after 23 21 Seat change 3 4 Popular vote 10,192 11,951 Percentage 33.1% 38.8% Swing 3.8% 6.3%   Third party Fourth party   Party Labour Tiptree Residents Last election 16 seats, 30.6% 1 seat, 0.0% Seats won 4 1 Seats after 15 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 7,429 727 Percentage 24.1% 2.4% Swing 6.5% N/A
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control

The 2000 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2000 to elect members of Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control. ^[1]

After the election, the composition of the council was:

• Liberal Democrats 23
• Conservative 22
• Labour 14
• Tiptree Residents Association 1

Background

Before the election the Liberal Democrats had the most seats on the council with 25, compared to 18 for the Conservative Party, 15 for the Labour Party, 1 for the Tiptree Residents' Association and 1 other Independent. ^[2] Among the 20 councillors who were defending seats at the election were the Liberal Democrat leader of the council for the last two years, ^[3] Colin Sykes in Stanway, and the Liberal Democrat mayor Martin Hunt in Prettygate. ^[2]

Four Liberal Democrat and three Labour councillors stood down at the election including the Liberal Democrat former leader of the council, Steve Cawley in Shrub End. ^[2]

Election result

The Conservatives gained four seats, while the Liberal Democrats suffered a net loss of two seats. ^[3] The Liberal Democrats just remained the largest party, but among those to lose their seats to the Conservatives were the council leader Colin Sykes in Stanway by 54 votes and the mayor Martin Hunt in Prettygate by 213 votes. ^[3] Labour remained third after losing two seats, but also gaining one, while Tony Webb was the only Independent to remain on the council after holding his seat in Tiptree. ^[3]

Following the election Bill Frame was chosen as leader of the Liberal Democrat group defeating Terry Sutton and he then became the new leader of the council. ^[4]

2000 Colchester Borough Council election [3] [5]
Party		This election			Full council			This election
		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	6	3	30.0	17	23	38.3	10,192	33.1	–3.8
	Conservative	9	4	45.0	12	21	35.0	11,951	38.8	+6.3
	Labour	4	1	20.0	11	15	25.0	7,429	24.1	–6.5
	Tiptree Residents	1		5.0	0	1	1.7	727	2.4	N/A
	Independent	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	478	1.6	N/A
	Natural Law	0		0.0	0	0	0.0	39	0.1	N/A

Ward results

Berechurch

Berechurch ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Smith	874	44.3	-3.2
	Labour	Dave Harris	788	40.0	-3.0
	Conservative	Pat Armstrong	310	15.7	+6.2
Majority			86	4.4	-0.1
Turnout			1,972	34.0	-4.0
Registered electors			5,763
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	0.1

Castle

Castle ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Henry Spyvee*	788	42.9	-1.4
	Conservative	Neil Stock	525	28.6	+8.2
	Labour	Kim Naish	486	26.4	-9.0
	Natural Law	Loretta Basker	39	2.1	N/A
Majority			263	14.3	+5.4
Turnout			1,838	31.0	-1.3
Registered electors			5,971
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	4.8

Dedham

Dedham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wendy Scattergood*	582	73.9	+39.2
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline West	168	21.3	-36.6
	Labour	Jean Quinn	38	4.8	-2.6
Majority			414	52.5	N/A
Turnout			788	52.0	-7.4
Registered electors			1,526
	Conservative hold		Swing	37.9

East Donyland

East Donyland ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patricia Sanderson	321	43.4	+25.5
	Labour	Tina Cooke*	248	33.5	-14.9
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Flanagan	171	23.1	-6.4
Majority			73	9.9	N/A
Turnout			740	42.0	-5.8
Registered electors			1,784
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	20.2

Fordham

Fordham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Cannon*	418	76.0	+27.6
	Labour	Richard Bartholomew	68	12.4	-6.8
	Liberal Democrats	Craig Sutton	64	11.6	-19.0
Majority			350	63.6	+45.8
Turnout			550	39.0	-12.7
Registered electors			1,420
	Conservative hold		Swing	17.2

No Independent Conservative candidate as previous (1.7%).

Harbour

Harbour ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Terry Brady	696	40.1	+3.6
	Labour	Paul Bishop	553	31.9	-15.2
	Conservative	Mike Segal	306	17.6	+1.2
	Residents	Peter Farley	181	10.4	N/A
Majority			143	8.2	N/A
Turnout			1,736	28.0	-1.0
Registered electors			6,322
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	9.4

Lexden

Lexden ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sonia Lewis*	1,252	64.6	+13.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Martin	573	29.6	-11.8
	Labour	Edna Salmon	113	5.8	-2.0
Majority			679	35.0	+25.6
Turnout			1,938	45.0	-5.6
Registered electors			4,284
	Conservative hold		Swing	12.8

Marks Tey

Marks Tey ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Gower*	447	65.4	+30.7
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Treloar	134	19.6	-11.0
	Labour	John Coombes	103	15.1	-16.6
Majority			313	45.8	+42.6
Turnout			684	33.0	-11.3
Registered electors			2,090
	Conservative hold		Swing	20.9

Mile End

Mile End ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gerard Oxford	1,094	41.1	+9.3
	Conservative	David Adams	934	35.1	-0.1
	Labour	Lucy Wood*	634	23.8	-9.2
Majority			160	6.0	N/A
Turnout			2,662	25.0	-0.5
Registered electors			10,548
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing	4.7

New Town

New Town ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Sandra Gray	681	57.2	-5.4
	Labour	Dave Speed	309	25.9	-0.1
	Conservative	Mike Coyne	201	16.9	+5.5
Majority			372	31.2	-5.5
Turnout			1,191	23.0	-4.7
Registered electors			5,157
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	2.8

Prettygate

Prettygate ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian McCord	1,034	48.7	+11.2
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Hunt	821	38.7	-6.2
	Labour	Andy Frost	267	12.6	-5.0
Majority			213	10.0	N/A
Turnout			2,122	36.0	-1.5
Registered electors			5,910
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	8.7

St Andrew's

St Andrew's ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Don Quinn	559	57.2	-9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Gant	216	22.1	-5.6
	Conservative	Richard Lambeth	203	20.8	+14.7
Majority			343	35.1	-3.4
Turnout			978	17.0	-7.5
Registered electors			5,846
	Labour hold		Swing	1.7

St Anne's

St Anne's ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tina Dopson	738	43.4	-2.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Fellows	731	42.9	-4.5
	Conservative	Debbie White	233	13.7	+6.6
Majority			7	0.4	N/A
Turnout			1,702	34.0	-6.3
Registered electors			5,083
	Labour hold		Swing	1.2

St John's

St John's ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Ray Gamble*	958	49.4	-6.2
	Conservative	Derek Smith	674	34.8	+6.6
	Labour	Peter Brine	206	15.8	-0.4
Majority			284	14.7	-12.7
Turnout			1,938	33.0	-0.2
Registered electors			5,587
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	6.4

St Mary's

St. Mary's ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Buston	840	48.4	+12.1
	Liberal Democrats	Una Jones	631	36.3	-8.0
	Labour	Edmund Chinnery	265	15.3	-4.0
Majority			209	12.0	N/A
Turnout			1,736	33.0	-3.0
Registered electors			5,263
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	10.1

Shrub End

Shrub End ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Bourne	435	38.5	-7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Barbara Williamson	424	37.5	-0.1
	Conservative	Ron Levy	272	24.0	+7.3
Majority			11	1.0	-7.1
Turnout			1,131	19.0	-2.7
Registered electors			5,973
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	3.6

Stanway

Stanway ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jonathan Pyman	866	44.7	+12.6
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Sykes*	812	41.9	-9.7
	Labour	Ian Yates	259	13.4	-2.9
Majority			54	2.8	N/A
Turnout			1,937	32.0	-0.9
Registered electors			6,121
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	11.2

Tiptree

Tiptree ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tiptree Residents	Tony Webb*	727	41.2	N/A
	Conservative	Richard Martin	418	23.7	-13.0
	Labour	Tania Rogers	324	18.3	-28.5
	Independent	Helen Bunney	297	16.8	N/A
Majority			309	17.5	N/A
Turnout			1,766	28.0	+5.6
Registered electors			6,301
	Tiptree Residents hold		Swing	N/A

West Mersea

West Mersea ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Jowers	1,342	76.5	+13.6
	Labour	Bry Mogridge	258	14.7	-8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Scott	154	8.8	-5.5
Majority			1,084	61.8	+21.7
Turnout			1,754	30.0	+0.5
Registered electors			5,813
	Conservative hold		Swing	10.9

Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bob Newman*	778	44.4	-5.5
	Conservative	Judith Kennerdale	773	44.1	+4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Lancaster	202	11.5	+0.7
Majority			5	0.3	-10.2
Turnout			1,753	25.0	-3.5
Registered electors			7,152
	Labour hold		Swing	5.2

By-elections

Lexden

Lexden By-Election 19 October 2000 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		939	55.9	-8.7
	Liberal Democrats		639	38.0	+8.4
	Labour		103	6.1	+0.3
Majority			300	17.9
Turnout			1,681	39.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Prettygate

Prettygate By-Election 7 June 2001 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats		1,674	41.4	+2.7
	Conservative		1,498	37.1	-11.7
	Labour		869	21.5	+8.9
Majority			176	4.3
Turnout			4,041
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Mile End

A by-election took place in Mile End on 22 November 2001 after the resignation of Liberal Democrat councillor David Goatley due to pressure of work. ^[7]

Mile End By-Election 22 November 2001 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats		529	33.6	-7.7
	Conservative		468	29.7	-5.5
	Labour		443	28.1	+4.6
	Independent		135	8.6	+8.6
Majority			61	3.9
Turnout			1,575	14.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

1. "Local elections". BBC News Online . Retrieved 25 May 2014.
2. "Colchester: Candidates take to campaign trail". Essex County Standard . 3 April 2000. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
3. "Election round-up: Colchester mayor ousted by Tory gains". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 5 May 2000.
4. "Colchester : New election shock for Lib Dems". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 11 May 2000.
5. "Election results: local councils - Elections". The Times . NewsBank. 5 May 2000.
6. "Local Authority Byelection Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
7. Potter, Charlotte (9 November 2001). "Colchester: Councillors face new rules on phone use". Essex County Publications. NewsBank.