20 out of 60 seats to Colchester Borough Council 31 seats needed for a majority
Turnout
34.7% (1.7%)
First party
Second party
Party
Conservative
Liberal Democrats
Last election
30 seats, 38.9%
21 seats, 34.8%
Seats before
30
21
Seats won
9
7
Seats after
30
21
Seat change
Popular vote
14,342
10,052
Percentage
41.8%
29.3%
Swing
2.9%
4.5%
Third party
Fourth party
Party
Labour
Independent
Last election
7 seats, 13.3%
2 seats, 5.5%
Seats before
7
2
Seats won
3
1
Seats after
6
3
Seat change
1
1
Popular vote
5,581
1,052
Percentage
16.3%
3.1%
Swing
3.0%
2.4%
Council control before election
No overall control
Council control after election
No overall control
The 2007 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 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
Before the election the Conservatives had 30 of the 60 seats on the council, while the Liberal Democrats had 21, Labour had 7 and there were 2 independents.[3]
With the Conservative party needing to gain one seat to gain a majority on the council for the first time since 1986,[4] Colchester attracted national attention with the Shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague, coming to the marginal Shrub End ward to campaign for the Conservatives.[5] Meanwhile, one of the Green party's Principal Speakers Siân Berry came to Colchester and campaigned on the importance of public transport, with the Greens contesting every seat at the election.[5]
Election result
The Conservatives narrowly failed to gain a majority on the council after failing to take Wivenhoe Quay from Labour by two votes after two recounts.[4] This meant the Conservatives remained on 30 councillors, while the Liberal Democrats stayed on 21 seats.[4] Labour's loss of Shrub End to the Conservatives meant they dropped to 6 councillors, while the Greens failed to win any seats despite getting 32% of the vote in Castle ward.[4][6] Overall turnout at the election was 34.7%.[7]
^"Colchester : It's D-day at polls". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 3 May 2007.
^ abcd"Colchester : Just two votes stop a Tory takeover". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 4 May 2007.
^ ab"Colchester : William stops off on whistle-stop tour". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 20 April 2007.
^"Is town ripe for the taking by Greens?". Essex County Publications. NewsBank. 21 May 2007.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv"Election of Borough Councillors for the Wards of Colchester Borough Council: Summary of Results". Colchester Borough Council. Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.