The 2004 Colchester Borough Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

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Council in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

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. This was the same day as the other

2004 United Kingdom local elections The United Kingdom local elections of 2004 were held on 10 June, as part of the 2004 set of elections along with the European elections and the London mayoral and Assembly elections. The councils of all the metropolitan boroughs in England a ...

and as the 2004 European Parliament Elections. One third of the seats were up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.

Background

Following the previous election, Cllr Bob Newman (Wivenhoe Quay) left the Labour group to sit as an independent, reducing Labour to 4 councillors. Labour then went into opposition after refusing to work with the Conservatives and a new cabinet was formed with 4 Conservative and 4 Liberal Democrat members. A by-election took place in Wivenhoe Quay ward after the death of sitting Independent councillor Richard Davies. The by-election was won by Labour, increasing their seat count to 5.

Election result

The Conservatives gained 4 seats to become the largest party on the council with 28 seats, 3 short of a majority. They overtook the Liberal Democrats who held 23 seats,

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

with 6 seats and 3 independents. Overall turnout at the election was 34.4%. As a result, the Conservatives took all the seats on the council

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

for the first time since that style of government was introduced in Colchester, with the Conservative group leader John Jowers becoming the new leader of the council.

Ward results

Berechurch

Castle

No Green candidate as previous (8.0%).

Dedham & Langham

East Donyland

Harbour

Highwoods

Lexden

Marks Tey

Mile End

No Independent (9.4%) or Green (3.0%) candidates as previous.

New Town

Prettygate

St. Andrew's

No Socialist Alliance candidate as previous (3.1%).

St. Anne's

No Socialist Alliance candidate as previous (2.1%).

St. John's

Shrub End

No Socialist Alliance candidate as previous (1.5%).

Stanway

Tiptree

West Mersea

Wivenhoe Cross

Wivenhoe Quay

By-elections

Berechurch

A by-election took place on 21 October 2004 in

Berechurch Berechurch is an area of Colchester and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Colchester, in the Colchester district, in the county of Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffo ...

after the resignation of Liberal Democrat

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Susan Brooks. Labour's Dave Harris took the seat from the Liberal Democrats by a majority of 345.

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2004 2004 English local elections

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2000s in Essex