The 2002 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2002 to elect members of Colchester Borough Council in Essex, England. This was the same day as the other local elections across the United Kingdom. The whole council was up for election on new ward boundaries.
The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives both gained seats at the election and secured their positions as the leading parties in Colchester. Following poor performances in recent borough elections, Labour continued to decline and lost the majority of their seats. They finished with only 6 seats on the council, a record low, and remained far back in third place in the popular vote. Independents also made gains. The council stayed under no overall control.
Summary Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives gained seats to move to 26 and 24 seats respectively. This was at the expense of the Labour Party who lost 9 seats to only have 6 councillors.
In total there were 24 new councillors elected, with a number of sitting councillors being defeated, including the leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, Bill Frame. Frame had previously represented St Mary's ward, but contested Shrub End at the election and failed to be elected. Colin Sykes returned as the leader of the Liberal Democrat group after winning election, 2 years after having lost his seat on the council.
Election result
Ward results
Shown below are ward results according to the council's election results archive.
Berechurch
Birch and Winstree
Castle
Christ Church
Copford & West Stanway
Dedham & Langham
East Donyland
Fordham & Stour
Great Tey
No Labour candidate as previous (8.5%).
Harbour
Highwoods
Lexden
Marks Tey
Mile End
New Town
Prettygate
Pyefleet
No Labour candidate as previous (16.3%).
St. Andrew's
St. Anne's
St. John's
Shrub End
Stanway
Tiptree
West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green
West Mersea
Wivenhoe Cross
Wivenhoe Quay
References