Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom 1801-1983 & 1997 onwards
This article is about the electoral district in the United Kingdom. For the electoral district of the same name in Canada, seeColchester (provincial electoral district).
Once the basis for one or two semi-rural seats, the modern-day Colchester constituency is a compact, urban core, containing the city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods.
In 1997, the vote was split three ways with theLiberal Democrat candidateBob Russell winning with a small majority. Russell increased his votes and percentage share in next three elections. In the2010 election this was the only non-Conservative seat inEssex. Russell was defeated in the2015 general election by ConservativeWill Quince, by an 11.5% majority. In the2017 election Quince was re-elected by a slightly decreased margin by percentage (10.6%), withLabour moving into 2nd place after a substantial increase in their vote. In the2019 election, Quince increased his majority to 9,423 or 17.6% in percentage terms. The seat lost the ward ofOld Heath andThe Hythe in the 2023Boundary Commission review but despite this, Colchester was won by Labour for the first time since 1945 in the2024 general election withPam Cox as the new MP. The Liberal Democrats came fourth, narrowly behindReform UK.
No changes (the Urban District of West Mersea had been formed as a separate local authority in 1926).
For the 1983 general election, the constituency was abolished, with the northern parts (comprising the majority) forming the bulk of the new constituency ofNorth Colchester. Southern areas were included in the new constituency ofSouth Colchester and Maldon.
The Borough of Colchester wards of Berechurch, Castle, Harbour, Lexden, Mile End, New Town, Prettygate, St Andrew's, St Anne's, St John's, St Mary's, Shrub End, and Stanway.[7]
Re-established as a Borough Constituency from parts of the abolished constituencies of South Colchester and Maldon (Berechurch, Harbour, New Town, Prettygate and Shrub End wards) and North Colchester (remaining wards).
The Borough of Colchester wards of Berechurch, Castle, Christ Church, Harbour, Highwoods, Lexden, Mile End, New Town, Prettygate, St Andrew's, St Anne's, St John's, and Shrub End.[8]
Local authority wards redistributed. Minor reduction in electorate, with Stanway ward being included in the new constituency ofWitham.
The City of Colchester wards of: Castle; Greenstead; Highwoods; Lexden & Braiswick (polling districts AQ, AS and AT); Mile End; New Town & Christ Church; Prettygate; St. Anne’s & St. John’s; Shrub End.[9]
The revised contents closely correspond to the previous boundaries, with the exception of theOld Heath andThe Hythe areas to the south east of the city centre, which are now included inHarwich and North Essex.
^Webster and Rebow were re-elected in 1714, but on petition the result was reversed and Gore declared to have been duly elected instead, following a dispute over whether foreigners could be made freemen of the borough and thereby acquire voting rights
^Webster was re-elected in 1710, but on petition the result was reversed and Gore and Corsellis declared to have been duly elected instead, following a further dispute over foreign freemen's voting rights
^At the election of 1741, Olmius and Martin were returned as elected, but on petition their election was declared void and their opponents, Savill and Gray, declared elected in their place
^At the election of 1754, Gray was re- elected, but on petition his election was declared void and his opponent, Rebow, declared elected in his place
^abOn petition,Potter's election was declared void on the grounds of defective qualification and his opponent, Affleck, declared duly elected
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
^Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
^abcDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^abDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
^'GOLDFINCH, Sir Arthur Horne', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014accessed 29 Nov 2016
D Brunton & D H Pennington,Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)titles A-Z
F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
J E Neale,The Elizabethan House of Commons (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
Henry Stooks Smith,The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig - Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)
