Colchester North (UK Parliament constituency)

For the Canadian constituency, see Colchester North (provincial electoral district).

Colchester North
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Colchester North, showing boundaries used from 1983–1997
County	Essex
1983–1997
Seats	One
Created from	Colchester and Harwich [1]
Replaced by	Colchester and North Essex [1]

North Colchester was a Borough Constituency in Essex, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

This seat was created for the 1983 general election from parts of the abolished Colchester constituency and parts of the Harwich constituency. It was abolished at the next redistribution which came into effect for the 1997 general election, when Colchester was re-established as a borough constituency and a new county constituency of North Essex was created.

It was a safe Conservative seat throughout its existence.

Boundaries

• The Borough of Colchester wards of Boxted and Langham, Castle, Copford and Eight Ash Green, Dedham, Fordham, Great and Little Horkesley, Great Tey, Highwoods Lexden, Marks Tey, Mile End, St Andrew's, St Anne's, St John's, St Mary's, Stanway, West Bergholt, and Wivenhoe; and
• The District of Tendring wards of Alresford Thorrington and Frating, Ardleigh, Brightlingsea East, Brightlingsea West, Elmstead, Great Bentley, Great Bromley Little Bromley and Little Bentley, Lawford and Manningtree, and Mistley. ^[2]

The seat was created in 1983 by dividing the Colchester constituency. It took in the northern parts of the town of Colchester, including the town centre, plus the rural areas to the north of Colchester, and south of either the Stour estuary or the Suffolk border. It also included western parts of the Harwich constituency, including Wivenhoe and Brightlingsea.

The seat was abolished in 1997, with the parts of the town being included in the re-established constituency of Colchester and remaining areas being included in the new constituency of North Essex, a seat surrounding Colchester.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [3]	Party
	1983	Sir Antony Buck	Conservative
	1992	Bernard Jenkin	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Colchester & North Essex

Elections

1979 notional result [4]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	31,439	55.3
	Labour	16,160	28.4
	Liberal	9,124	16.0
	Others	157	0.3
Turnout		56,880
Electorate

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Colchester North ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Antony Buck	29,921	53.0	−2.3
	Liberal	Ronald Montgomerie	14,873	26.3	+10.3
	Labour	Raymond Allen	10,397	18.4	−10.0
	Ind. Conservative	Derek Wilkinson	784	1.4	New
	Independent	Roger Davies	510	0.9	New
Majority			15,048	26.6	−0.2
Turnout			56,485	73.1	−3.5
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1987: Colchester North ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Antony Buck	32,747	52.3	−0.7
	SDP	Alan Hayman	19,124	30.5	+4.2
	Labour	Roderic Green	10,768	17.2	−1.2
Majority			13,623	21.8	−4.9
Turnout			62,639	76.0	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.5

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Colchester North ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bernard Jenkin	35,123	51.5	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats	James Raven	18,721	27.4	−3.1
	Labour	David Lee	13,870	20.3	+3.1
	Green	Muhammed Shabeer	372	0.5	New
	Natural Law	Michael Mears	238	0.4	New
Majority			16,402	24.1	+2.3
Turnout			68,414	79.1	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.2

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Essex

Notes and references

1. "'Colchester North', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)
4. "BBC/ITN NOTIONAL ELECTION 1979". election.demon.co.uk. BBC/ITN. Archived from the original on 28 May 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
5. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
6. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
7. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
8. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.