Colchester (borough)

The City of Colchester is a local government district with city status in Essex, England, named after its main settlement, Colchester. It is, with 194,394 people according to Office of National Statistics estimate for mid 2022, the most populous district in Essex and also includes the towns of West Mersea and Wivenhoe and the surrounding rural areas stretching from Dedham Vale on the Suffolk border in the north to Mersea Island in the Colne Estuary in the south.

The district borders Tendring District to the east, Maldon District to the south, Braintree District to the west, and Babergh District in Suffolk to the north.

History

Colchester was an ancient borough with urban forms of local government from Saxon times. Burgesses were already established by the time of the Domesday survey of 1086. The earliest known borough charter dates from 1189, but that charter appears to confirm pre-existing borough rights rather than being the foundation of a new borough. The borough was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough.

The current district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, covering four former districts which were abolished at the same time:
* Colchester Municipal Borough
* Lexden and Winstree Rural District
*West Mersea Urban District
*Wivenhoe Urban District
The new district was named Colchester after its largest settlement. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Colchester's series of mayors.

As part of the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II celebrations in 2022, the borough of Colchester was granted city status, confirmed by Letters Patent dated 5 September 2022, allowing the council to change its name to "Colchester City Council".

Governance

Colchester City Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Essex County Council. Parts of the district are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2008. A Liberal Democrat and Labour coalition formed in May 2025, with Liberal Democrat councillor David King serving as leader of the council and Labour councillor Julie Young serving as deputy leader. Between the 2023 election and the new coalition forming in 2025, the council had been run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration with informal support from the Labour Party and the Green Party on a case-by-case basis.

The first election to the borough council following the reforms of the Local Government Act 1972 was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: (Put "Colchester" in search box to see specific results.)

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Colchester. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2000 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 council elections and a subsequent change of allegiance later in May 2024, the composition of the council was:

The next election is due 7 May 2026.

Premises

The council meets at Colchester Town Hall on the High Street. The current building was completed in 1902 on a site which had been occupied by Colchester's main civic buildings since 1277.

Most of the council's administrative offices are at a modern office building called Rowan House at 33 Sheepen Road, north-west of the city centre.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2016 the council has comprised 51 councillors representing 17 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, choosing one councillor for each ward at a time to serve a four year term. In the fourth year of the cycle when there are no elections to the city council, elections for Essex County Council are held instead.

Demography

According to the Office for National Statistics as of 2008, Colchester had a population of approximately 181,000. Average life expectancy was 78.7 for males. and 83.3 for females. By the time of the 2021 census, the population had risen to 192,700.

At the previous census, in 2011, 92% of the population was White (87.5% British, 0.7% Irish and 3.8% Other White), Asians were the second largest group making up 3.6% (0.8% Indian, 0.2% Pakistani, 0.2% Bangladeshi and 1% Chinese, other 1.4%), Black people constituted 1.4% (0.3% Caribbean, 1% African, 0.1% other), those of mixed race made up 1.8%, 0.6% were Arab and there were 0.4% from other ethnic groups. 57.7% identified themselves as Christian, while 31.4% had no affiliation to a religion. Of other religions, 1.6% identified as Muslim, 0.7% Hindu, 0.6% Buddhist, 0.2% Jewish, 0.1% Sikh, 0.5% others, and 7.3% did not answer.

Parishes

There are 35 civil parishes in the district. The former Colchester Municipal Borough is an unparished area (subject to some adjustments since 1974 to that area's boundaries with neighbouring parishes). The parish councils of Wivenhoe and West Mersea take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes are grouped together to share a parish council: Abberton and Langenhoe Parish Council covers those two parishes, and the Winstred Hundred Parish Council covers the four parishes of Great and Little Wigborough, Peldon, Salcott, and Virley. The two parishes of Layer Breton and Layer Marney have parish meetings rather than parish councils due to their small populations.

* Abberton
* Aldham
*Birch
* Boxted
* Chappel
*Copford
* Dedham
* East Donyland
* East Mersea
* Eight Ash Green
*Fingringhoe
* Fordham
* Great and Little Wigborough
* Great Horkesley
* Great Tey
* Langenhoe
* Langham
* Layer Breton
*Layer de la Haye
* Layer Marney
* Little Horkesley
*Marks Tey
* Messing-cum-Inworth
* Mount Bures
*Myland
*Peldon
* Salcott
* Stanway
*Tiptree
* Virley
*Wakes Colne
* West Bergholt
*West Mersea (town)
*Wivenhoe (town)
* Wormingford

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colchester, City of

Non-metropolitan districts of Essex
Boroughs in England
Cities in the East of England